The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

The economic feasibility of seismic rehabilitation of buildings by base isolation

Kelly, James M.

UCB/EERC-83/01, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1983-01, 79 pages (620.3/K38/1983)

For the purpose of demonstrating the economic feasibility of base isolation as a method of rehabilitation, a building in San Francisco was selected for a design study. The building, constructed in 1912 as a Masonic hall, has proved to be difficult to rehabilitate by means of base isolation due to its unusual configuration. This has also made analysis of the structural framing system difficult. However, a base isolation rehabilitation scheme was, drawings prepared, and the cost to implement the scheme estimated. The development of a practical rehabilitation scheme for this unusually configured building indicates that suitable rehabilitation strategies using the concept of base isolation for typical masonry buildings are possible. Substantial building replacement costs can be avoided and the safety of buildings so rehabilitated greatly enhanced.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/EERC/EERC-83-01.pdf (4 MB)