Building Codes

The city made notifications not initially planned out and ultimately adding more dead load of the bridge which led to the collapse under too much load the bridge was intended to take. They also added railings to the bridge that did not meet current safety standards in 1998. By replacing them, it added more load to the bridge. During their last renovation of the bridge before the collapse, more concrete was going to be added. They chose to use mixing truck to pour concrete, but Minnesota specifications said that pouring of concrete was to be done on site and mixing trucks could not be used on state bridges. The company's actions to place trucks all over the site to pour their concrete while specifications said that concrete was to be mixed on site without trucks, shows how the actions taken by the company was not morally right in considering state regulations. Bridge construction inspectors determined that the concrete specifications meet required standards and consequently they determined that it was okay to place the materials on the bridge for the

When bridges are poorly constructed, they may fail due to load they carry, collision by derailed trains or even by vehicles that lose control leading to catastrophic incidences. However, if bridges are well-constructed, the chances or injury are greatly minimized in the event of an accident. Discussed in the subsections are the requirements of AS 5100 standards in relation to cable-stayed bridges and include design requirements for bridges, bridge aesthetics, bridge functional requirements, bridge component design requirements and bridge construction

Suspension bridges were important before 1940 and are still important today. Major cities such as San Francisco, and Manhattan both have a suspension bridge. Suspension bridges are,” a bridge having a deck suspended from cables anchored at their extremities and usually raised on towers” (dictionary.com). Due to the fact that suspension bridges are not completely supported throughout the length of the bridge, past bridges were unsafe. For example, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was a suspension bridge opened on July 1st, 1940 (Mark Ketchum). This bridge marked a huge point in suspension bridge safety and engineering, because in collapsed approximately four months after it was opened (Parsons). The collapse caused such a shock, that suspension

In Washington, the Interstate 5 bridge, which crossed the Skagit River, collapsed last month. The damage of this accident included two cars broke and three persons injured. According to officials, the bridge fell into the river after the large truck hit a beam. The bridge had a risky condition called facture critical. The U.S has a lot of bridges; however, nearly two thousand bridges were built between the middle of 1950s and the 1970s, so those ones are obsolete bridges. In addition, back then, the government cut corners in bridge buildings to cost reduction. Although gas and diesel taxes attempted to allocate to restored the bridge, the government cloud not collect money enough to repair the bridge because people began to use efficient vehicle.

Hickory Estates is a community where buildings in the 1920’s through the 1940’s where build very quickly. This community has sloping streets, and is located above the Clearwater River. This area has single-family homes constructed with multistory, and wood-framed built homes. The population of this community is 6412 residents. Due to the era the homes were built in, a typical problem is the connection between the wood frame and the foundation. The lack of steel reinforcement can cause major damages due to its weak points0. An earthquake can cause the wood frame to come off its foundation, foundation cracks, the chimney breaking at the roof line, and the cripple walls (the walls between the top of the foundation and the floor diaphragm) to crack. This is why Hickory Estates has 8% of homes that will be uninhabitable after an Intensity IX earthquake.

If you want a house that will withstand particularly intense earthquakes, your home should be built from wood, after the 1940’s. Wood is lightweight and flexible and can absorb some of the seismic shocks earthquakes produce. If a building does collapse, then wood will not crush what is underneath nearly as severely as concrete or mortar will. So, a wood-framed building would be the safest and best option.

Critical incidents require immediate action (Levinson & Granot, 2002). Additionally, they also require ongoing support in order to ensure that they are correctly managed and the long-term effects are mitigated (Schneid & Collins, 2001). Addressed here are four specific events - earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornados. There are ways to mitigate the damage of these events, and there are also ways to try to prepare for them. Additionally, the type of response to these events is important as is the recovery from them. For earthquakes, mitigation is limited. It is possible to build houses and buildings stronger and more able to withstand shaking, and in earthquake-prone areas the cabinets often have latches and large appliances are strapped to the wall (U.S., 2007). People who live there should also have emergency supplies of food and water, and should be prepared for an earthquake by knowing information about evacuation routes (U.S., 2007). The response to earthquakes and the recovery from them are usually strong, because the areas that are most prone are also most prepared. When an earthquake hits in an unusual area, however, it can take much longer to help people and to rebuild the infrastructure.

When it comes to purchasing the home of your dreams, building codes aren’t typically one of the first topics you would think to bring up…However, they can play a huge role during your homebuying journey. Some neighborhoods and subdivisions require you to have either a site built home or a modular home.

The risk outbuildings pose to homes is a function of proximity to the home, outbuilding design, size, and material within the outbuilding. The surveys showed that outbuildings are more readily lost compared to the main structure and represent a significant impact mechanism for house loss (Leonard, 2006). Outbuildings like garages and sheds have more gaps and openings, and are more susceptible to ember ignition (Figure 4) when compared with conventional house design which then become a localised flame, radiation and ember source that present a significant additional risk to the main structure (Leonard,

With recent paradigm shifts recognizing the Cascadia Subduction Zone as an active subduction zone there needs to be precautionary movements occurring. There needs to be a focus on the retrofitting of older structures to prevent a future calamity (Yeats 2004). For those living in the Pacific Northwest we are faced with the impending doom of an earthquake hitting us that could cause catastrophic damage not only to our structures, but also to the lives of families and friends as well. For citizens living in the Pacific Northwest our building codes are only half that of those enforced in California who ranks 2nd in earthquake frequencies. Washington is ranked 5th and Oregon is ranked 10th in earthquake frequencies which should draw more attention

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) refers to stairways in D3.3(c) and requires compliance with AS1428.1 for stairways that are required to have access features. The Commission’s view is that all stairways, other than those specifically exempted under the BCA, should have these features for access and safety reasons.

for the exits design and paths of travel, The Building Code of Australia (BCA) specifies where TGSIs must be offered at D3.8 and refers to and requires compliance with the relevant standard of AS 1428.4.

When the bridge was tested, at 26 pounds of pressure, it began to buckle. The top support near the middle of the bridge on one side caved in, and as the weight increased, more of the top supports collapsed. At 47.3 pounds of pressure, the bridge snapped in half. By the end of the testing, the bridge had lost all of it’s top supports, two sections of diagonal supports on either side, and a small portion of the roadway.

Preparation is the key in being ready for an earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year. Approximately 100,000 those are strong enough to be felt and 100 of them cause damage. Even the most minor earthquake can cause damage to a two-story apartment that has not been properly prepared. With a little forethought, though, all of us can live with the knowledge that if an earthquake does hit, we'll be equipped to handle

In the past construction also took less time. One reason for this is that safety regulations were not nearly as strict then as they are now. It was understood 80 years ago that any major construction project would come with the loss of life. According to Lisa Vorderbrueggen from Contra Costa Times, for every $1 million to be spent on a project regarding high steel work, there would be one death. In total the bridge cost was $77 million (equivalent to about $1.3 billion in current dollars) and resulted in 24 deaths (Vorderbrueggen).