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Preface
On this anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it is important to acknowledge the gift of intellect and time that so many engineers have given over the last 100 years in the effort to develop and improve the earthquake provisions of building codes. Frank McClure was one such engineer who worked tirelessly and selflessly to advance the relevancy of building codes with regard to earthquake design. Frank was a native San Franciscan, and attended the University of California where he received a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering. In 1955, he established his own engineering firm, specializing in earthquake resistant design and research, and later partnered with David Messinger, with whom he worked with until 1975. In 1976, he accepted a position with his alma mater, where he remained until his retirement in 1991. Throughout his career, Frank was constantly involved with numerous regional, state, national and international earthquake engineering committees and code writing bodies. His participation was always valued due to the passion and knowledge he brought, much of it gained from his travels around the globe to personally inspect and document the damage caused by earthquakes. Among many other accomplishments, he served on the Field Act Advisory Board, the Joint Legislative Committee on Seismic Safety, the Seismology Code Development Committee of the International Conference of Building Officials, the Committee on Earthquake Engineering of the National Research Council, and was President of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. I first met Frank when he hired me straight out of graduate school. He was very instrumental in defining the direction of my career with the keen interest he had in computer applications for the automation of earthquake engineering. An engineer with a vision ahead of his time, Frank was one of my most ardent supporters when I started Computers and Structures, Inc. 30 years ago. Over the years he closely followed and critiqued many of our developments and proved to be one of our greatest cheerleaders. In honor of Frank, Computers and Structures, Inc. is proud to reprint the following article he originally wrote in January of 1968. In his own words, Frank describes the early evolution of earthquake codes, an important historical review from a man who was an eyewitness to many of the code developments of the last half of the 20th century. Finally, we are grateful to Augusta McClure and the McClure Family for granting us the permission to reprint this article. ASHRAF HABIBULLAH - CEO | Computers & Structures, Inc. April 18, 2006
Outline of Presentation 1. Introduction 2. Before San Francisco 1906 3. After San Francisco 1906 4. Japan 1923 5. Santa Barbara 1925 6. Palo Alto 1927 7. State Chamber of Commerce Committee 1928 8. Long Beach 1933 9. El Centro 1940 10. SEAOC Seismology Committee 1957-1960 11. SEAOC Seismology Committee 1960-1967 12. Conclusion 13. Acknowledgement
1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 6 7 7
Introduction
It might be well to review briefly the stated purposes of building codes. The purpose, as stated in Section 102 of the Uniform Building Code, is "to provide minimum standards to safeguard life or limb, health, property and public welfare." This stipulation of "minimum standards" is in keeping with constitutional curbs on police powers. Structures meeting these "minimum standards" should be capable of resisting anticipated loads and forces without serious structural damage but would not be expected to experience a major earthquake without sustaining non-structural damage such as plaster-cracking, glass breakage, etc. The latter damage can only be reduced when the owner is willing to pay for additional precautions beyond that required by minimum standards. Building codes can find justification only in the responsibility of government to protect public health and safety and major property damage. It is important that code requirements accomplish this and nothing more. Discussions on designs in excess of the code responsibility should be left to the owner on the advice of his structural engineer.
Japan 1923
Several engineers from San Francisco went to Japan after the 1923 earthquake there, where three major buildings, statically designed for lateral forces of 10 percent of gravity, showed marked resistant behavior. The Board of Fire Underwriters of the Pacific, when their earthquake department was established in 1926, was greatly influenced by the observations in Japan 1923 and Santa Barbara 1925 and advocated a static design, using a 10 percent lateral force factor.
which would require adequate standards of building construction and a reasonable resistance of such construction against earth movements. This was the genesis of the State Chamber's Code Committee. At the same time in San Francisco, there was a group of structural engineers who were in San Francisco soon after 1906 and were concerned about the poor construction practices developing in the 1920s and the reduction of the 1906 30 lb. wind requirement. This lead to the establishment of the San Francisco Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers code committee that met every week for seven years. This local code committee, later in 1928, was made a part of the State Chamber of Commerce Code Committee which also included the AIA, the AGC and the then Pacific Coast Building Officials Conference - now the International Conference of Building Officials. The year 1925, because of the Santa Barbara earthquake, may be considered as marking the real beginning of earthquake studies and research in the United States. It was in this year that, by direction of the United States Congress, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey was given the responsibility to make investigations and reports on seismology. The work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, in particular the publishing of strong-motion earthquake records, was to have significant influence on the development of codes.
responsibility, under the police power of the State, to pass upon and approve or reject plans and specifications and to supervise the construction of all public school buildings. "Appendix A" of the Rules and Regulations was then adopted by the Division of Architecture which were practically in toto the earthquake provisions under consideration by the State Chamber of Commerce Code Committee at that time. "Appendix A" required masonry buildings, without frames, to be designed for a lateral force of 10% of the dead, plus a portion of the live load. Other buildings were to be designed for 2% to 5%. The lower coefficients were related to higher allowable foundation loads. In 1937, the requirements were revised to make the coefficients 6% to 10% for buildings 3 stories or less in height, or buildings without a moment resistant frame. Buildings more than 3 stories in height, with a complete moment-resistive frame, had coefficients of 2% to 6%, provided the frame could resist 2% of the load. In 1941, the coefficients were 6% to 10%, depending only upon the type of foundation materials. Since 1953, the coefficient used is based upon the equation:
C=
based on dead load only.
.60 N + 4.5
In 1933, the other California State Law that was passed was the Riley Act which required that all buildings, except certain type dwellings and farm buildings, to be designed for a lateral force of 2% of the total vertical design load or 15 lbs. per square foot wind for heights less than 60 feet. In 1953, this requirement was revised to require 3% for buildings less than 40 feet and 2% for those over 40 feet. The wind loading was not changed. In 1965, the Riley Act provisions were changed to the provisions in Title 24 which, for the lateral force requirement, are the provisions of the 1961 Uniform Building Code. The wind requirement varies within two areas in California and the height zones above ground. In 1933, the Los Angeles Building Ordinance adopted a lateral force code with a coefficient of 8% of dead load plus half live load. This was also required in the Uniform Building Code of 1935 on soils good for 2000 psf or more in areas of highest seismicity (Zone 3), with double this value for weaker soils.
El Centro 1940
The El Centro earthquake in 1940 provided strong-motion accelerograms from the instruments installed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey after 1933, and started a new era in seismic codes, tending toward a more "dynamic" approach. In 1943, the City of Los Angeles recognized indirectly the influence of flexibility on the earthquake design coefficients, making the coefficients a function of the number of stories in the building by the formula:
C=
.60
N = 4.5
C being a percent of the dead load. This same provision was incorporated in the Uniform Building Code in 1949. In 1959, when the height limit of 150 feet was removed from the Los Angeles Code, this formula was modified to read: C = 4.6S N+ 0.9(S-8)
A Publication of Computers & Structures, Inc.
S = 13, for buildings 13 stories or less. It was not until 1947 that San Francisco had anything more stringent than the Riley Act in its Code. A table of variable coefficients was adopted, with maximum value for one story buildings of 8% and minimum value for 30 stories of 3.7% with variations for soil conditions. These were applied to design vertical loads. This prompted the formation, in 1948, of a Joint Committee on Lateral Forces of the San Francisco Section of ASCE and the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California. This committee, after several years' study, issued a report wherein it was recommended that lateral force coefficients be used which were related to the estimated, or calculated fundamental period of vibration of the structure. This report, published in 1951, has received worldwide acclaim and is the basis for many earthquake codes. It was being used as a guide in 1967 in Colombia, South America. San Francisco, in 1956, adopted a variation of the recommendations of the Joint Committee.
earthquake of intensity or severity of the strongest of those which California has recorded." This level of protection was defined as the primary function of a building code is to provide "minimum standards" to assure public safety. Requirements contained in such codes are intended to safeguard against major structural failures and to provide protection against loss of life and personal injury. The code does not assure protection against non-structural damage, such as cracked plaster, broken glass, broken light fixtures, cracked ornamentation, cracked filler walls, or overturned equipment. Some owner-sponsored codes go further than this, an example, the Field Act, and have as their purpose also, the protection of property; however, this is not the purpose of building codes generally. The 1960 SEAOC Code was adopted by the City and County of Los Angeles in 1960, and in the Uniform Building Code in 1961 with certain exceptions, such as retaining the Zone provisions, etc.; the City of San Francisco adopted the of SEAOC Code in 1962. As stated before, Title 24, the "California State Building Regulations" for state agencies having jurisdiction over building construction, adopted the 1961 Uniform Building Code lateral force provisions in 1963.
The 1967 SEAOC recommended lateral force requirements were adopted into the 1967 Uniform Building Code and are under consideration for adoption into Title 24 and the San Francisco Building Code.
Conclusion
The building code by itself cannot be a guarantee of good construction. Competent design by engineers with experience in earthquake engineering, coupled with adequate inspection by qualified persons and conscientious workmanship by skilled contractors, are the primary means of obtaining earthquake resistant structures.
Acknowledgement
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Henry Degenkolb and Karl V. Steinbrugge for allowing me to use their slides and the personal contribution by Harold Hammill and Harold Engle, who provided some of the history from 1906 to 1933.
Copyright
1960, and in the Uniform Building Code in 1961 with certain exceptions, such as retaining the Zone provisions, etc.; the City of San Francisco adopted the SEAOC Code in 1962. As stated before, Title 24, the "California State Building Regulations" for state agencies having jurisdiction over building construction, adopted the 1961 Uniform Building Code lateral force provisions in 1963.
The 1967 SEAOC recommended lateral force requirements were adopted into the 1967 Uniform Building Code and are under consideration for adoption into Title 24 and the San Francisco Building Code.
Conclusion
The building code by itself cannot be a guarantee of good construction. Competent design by engineers with experience in earthquake engineering, coupled with adequate inspection by qualified persons and conscientious workmanship by skilled contractors, are the primary means of obtaining earthquake resistant structures.
Acknowledgement
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Henry Degenkolb and Karl V. Steinbrugge for allowing me to use their slides and the personal contribution by Haro1d Hammill and Harold Engle, who provided some of the history from 1906 to 1933.
NOTES