Thousands of older wood and concrete apartment buildings in Los Angeles that would be vulnerable to collapse in a major earthquake would need expensive seismic retrofits under rules passed recently by the City Council.
An estimated 13,500 “soft-first-story buildings,” wood-frame structures with large parking areas on the ground floor, would be impacted. Some 1,500 brittle concrete buildings would also be affected.
Still undecided is how to pay for the estimated $5,000-per-unit retrofitting costs. One proposal is to split the costs 50-50 between tenants and landlords and cap possible monthly rent increases at $38.
Wood buildings would have seven years to complete construction after the owner is contacted by the Department of Building and Safety to retrofit the structure. Owners of brittle concrete buildings would be given 25 years to complete a retrofit.
Related Stories
| Dec 29, 2011
Seismic safety in question at thousands of California public schools
California regulators responsible for enforcing earthquake safety laws have failed to certify more than 16,000 construction projects in California public schools, increasing the risk that some projects may be unsafe, according to a state audit report.
| Dec 2, 2011
What are you waiting for? BD+C's 2012 40 Under 40 nominations are due Friday, Jan. 20
Nominate a colleague, peer, or even yourself. Applications available here.
| Oct 18, 2011
Michel Bruneau wins 2012 AISC T.R. Higgins Award
The AISC T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award is presented annually by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and recognizes an outstanding lecturer and author whose technical paper(s) are considered an outstanding contribution to the engineering literature on fabricated structural steel.
| Aug 11, 2010
PCA partners with MIT on concrete research center
MIT today announced the creation of the Concrete Sustainability Hub, a research center established at MIT in collaboration with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) Research & Education Foundation.
| Aug 11, 2010
VA San Diego Healthcare System Building 1 Seismic Correction
San Diego, Calif.
Three decades after its original construction in the early 1970s, the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System Building 1 fell far short of current seismic codes. This not only put the building and its occupants—patients, doctors, nurses, visitors, and administrative staff—at risk in the event of a major earthquake, it violated a California state mandate requiring all hospitals to either retrofit or rebuild.
| Aug 11, 2010
Theater Renovation—A First-Class Production
In 1985, the city of San Diego ordered the historic Balboa Theatre, its beleaguered performing arts center, to be shuttered due to seismic safety concerns. It would take another two decades to restore the landmark building.
| Aug 11, 2010
American Concrete Institute forms technical committee on BIM for concrete structures
The American Concrete Institute (ACI) announces the formation of a new technical committee on Building Information Modeling (BIM) of Concrete Structures.
