Winter Meeting – Week 2

This week we had Bob Glasgow and Jeff Croiser from Miyamoto International talk about the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake (aka the Chengdu earthquake) which occurred on May 12, 2008 in central China.  Miyamoto was one of the first international teams to go to the areas stuck by the earthquake and assess the damages.  They showed many examples of poor construction that lead to partial or complete collapse of many buildings.  Students learned why we detail the buildings in California the way we do, and what can happen during high seismic events when buildings are not properly engineered and detailed correctly.  The experience allowed students to learn about construction practices in other countries and how they compare to the way we design and construct here in the United States and here in California.