Excellent article on San Francisco's new generation of skyscrapers and the need for updated earthquake codes. The website is amazing and the article is well written. The next "big one" could seriously wreck havoc. The sinking millennium tower is already a billion dollar lawsuit, and the new Sales Force HQ is at the heart of San Francisco's new transit center that will connect California's new high speed rail with LA in another decade. What I found amazing was the article's mention of how the Ferry Terminal survived the 1906 earthquake - a huge vital lifeline for bringing in aid from Oakland. The Bay Bridge that was built to replace the ferry terminal had a catastrophic failure in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that dropped the upper bridge into the lower decks (which was built and used to have transit rail service & was built to a stronger specification). Can't imagine the cost if the bridge had collapsed into the bay. Seems like every Earthquake inJapan or California we learn more about how to build better structures. Lets hope our building codes can be proactive instead of reactive for the next one!
Excellent article on San Francisco's new generation of skyscrapers and the need for updated earthquake codes. The website is amazing and the article is well written. The next "big one" could seriously wreck havoc. The sinking millennium tower is already a billion dollar lawsuit, and the new Sales Force HQ is at the heart of San Francisco's new transit center that will connect California's new high speed rail with LA in another decade. What I found amazing was the article's mention of how the Ferry Terminal survived the 1906 earthquake - a huge vital lifeline for bringing in aid from Oakland. The Bay Bridge that was built to replace the ferry terminal had a catastrophic failure in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that dropped the upper bridge into the lower decks (which was built and used to have transit rail service & was built to a stronger specification). Can't imagine the cost if the bridge had collapsed into the bay. Seems like every Earthquake inJapan or California we learn more about how to build better structures. Lets hope our building codes can be proactive instead of reactive for the next one!