Uncategorised

Webinar on Earthquake Strengthening of
Cripple Walls in Wood-Frame Dwellings
(ATC-125)

Thursday, May 26, 2016
12:00 – 1:30 pm Pacific
Registration Fee: Free
1,000 registrations (sites) maximum

Purpose. This webinar will provide an overview of the FEMA P-1024/RA2 document, Earthquake Strengthening of Cripple Walls in Wood-Frame Dwellings, developed by the Applied Technology Council (ATC) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in response to the 2014 South Napa Earthquake. This month, the document was recognized with the 2016 Excellence in Engineering Award of Merit in the category of Study/Research/Guidelines by the Structural Engineering Association of Northern California (SEAONC).

This document addresses the earthquake strengthening of cripple walls and foundation anchorage in one- and two-family dwellings, supported by elevated concrete foundation systems and cripple walls not taller than approximately seven feet. The FEMA Plan Set for Earthquake Strengthening of Cripple Walls in Wood-Frame Dwellings accompanying this Recovery Advisory is intended to be used as a template for strengthening common cripple wall and foundation anchorage vulnerabilities in California and throughout the United States. It provides pre-engineered strengthening solutions with step-by-step instructions for use by a knowledgeable and skilled contractor or homeowner.

Intended Audience. This webinar has been designed for engineers, architects, building officials, and others who are interested in earthquake strengthening of cripple walls.

Handouts. All registrants will receive access to PDF electronic copy of FEMA P-1024/RA2, as well as the accompanying documents, FEMA P-1024, Performance of Buildings and Nonstructural Components in the 2014 South Napa Earthquake, and FEMA P-1024/RA1, South Napa Earthquake Recovery Advisory:Repair of Earthquake-Damaged Masonry Fireplace Chimneys. Webinar handouts may also be ordered by contacting the FEMA Publications Warehouse, by e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; phone: 1-800-480-2520

The handouts may be downloaded at the following URL: https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/103966

Technical Requirements. A computer with access to the internet, and speakers or a phone line are required.

Webinar Presenter. Colin Blaney, S.E., is an Executive Principal at ZFA Structural Engineers in San Carlos, California. He has 25 years of experience in the field of structural engineering with a special interest in wood frame residential construction.

Colin is a past president of the Structural Engineer’s Association of Northern California (SEAONC) and was chair of SEAONC’s Existing Building Committee between 2007 and 2010. During that time, he led the update to Plan Set A which is a prescriptive plan set developed to assist homeowners and contractors with evaluating and strengthening existing non-compliant cripple walls. Colin is the principal author of FEMA P-1024/RA2, and is currently serving as the co-Project Technical Director for the ATC-110 Project, Development of a Prestandard for the Evaluation and Retrofit of One- and Two-Family Light Frame Residential Buildings.

Professional Development Hours (PDHs). Each participant of this webinar will receive a certificate in PDF format documenting 1.5 PDHs. Each additional participant sharing the registrant’s computer may request PDH documentation using the online form found here.

Registration Information. The webinar is funded by the National Earthquake Technical Assistance Program (NETAP*) and is limited to 1,000 registrations.

About *NETAP. Instructor services and expenses for this training is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Earthquake Technical Assistance Program (NETAP), which is a mechanism for delivering direct assistance to the public to increase their knowledge and ability to analyze their risk, make a plan, and take actions aimed at reducing their earthquake risk and supporting overall community resilience. NETAP is a program managed by FEMA to rapidly deploy training and technical assistance to organizations and communities. For more information about NETAP please visit the FEMA website by clicking here.

NEWS RELEASE
March 23, 2016

For More Information, Contact:
ATC, 650/595-1542
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

At the annual Organizational Board meeting on January 29, 2016, the Applied Technology Council (ATC) Board of Directors elected officers for the Year 2016. Ms. Victoria Arbitrio of Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP, New York City, New York, was elected President. During her five years on the Board, Vickie has served as Secretary-Treasurer, Vice President, and on numerous ATC Board Committees. Succeeding Vickie as Vice President is Mr. Michael D. Engelhardt of the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. Mr. William Staehlin, Consulting Structural Engineer in Truckee, California, was elected Secretary-Treasurer for a second term.

Meeting dates and locations for the 2016-2017 Board meetings are set as follows:

May 7, 2016: Atlanta, Georgia (preceded by a tour of Mercedes-Benz Stadium – home of the Atlanta Falcons)
July 30, 2016: To be determined
October 15, 2016: Maui, Hawaii (in conjunction with the SEAOC Annual Convention to be held October 12-15)
January 28, 2017: San Francisco Bay Area, West Coast (Annual and Organizational Meetings)

ATC Board members are appointed for three-year terms, and some Board members serve more than one term. In addition to the above-cited officers, the ATC Board consists of James A. Amundson, Past President, Hope-Amundson Engineering, San Diego, California; Leighton Cochran, Leighton Cochran Consulting, Queensland, Australia; Anthony B. Court, A. B. Court & Associates, San Diego, California; Kurtis R. Gurley, University of Florida Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, Gainesville, Florida; Erleen Hatfield, Buro Happold, New York, New York; Doug Hohbach, Hohbach-Lewin, Inc., Palo Alto, California; Andrew B. Kennedy, University of Notre Dame College of Engineering, Notre Dame, Indiana; Roberto T. Leon, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia; James O. Malley, Degenkolb Engineers, San Francisco, California; Robert Paullus Jr., Paullus Structural Consultants, Olive Branch, Mississippi; Williston (Bill) L. Warren, IV, SESOL Inc., Newport Beach, California; Kent Yu, SEFT Consulting Group, Beaverton, Oregon

2015 Champions of Earthquake Resilience Awards

The Applied Technology Council (ATC) and the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded the 2015 Champions of Earthquake Resilience Awards on December 11, 2015. The awards dinner was held at the Maritime Museum in San Francisco and was attended by 120 award winners, presenters, and guests. The ATC-SEI Award Winners were selected from a broad range of nominated projects and programs resulting from a “Call for Nominations” distributed to more than 50,000 structural engineering and earthquake hazard reduction professionals in the United States, Canada, and other countries. The purpose of the awards is to recognize and publicize innovative earthquake engineering programs and projects that have (or will have) substantial impact on public safety and property loss reduction.

The awards were given in three categories and the winners were announced at a press conference held in conjunction with the ATC-SEI 2nd Conference on Improving the Seismic Performance of Existing Buildings and Other Structures. The 2015 Champions of Earthquake Resilience Award winners (7 in total) include:

*Category: Exceptional Public- and Private-Sector Research* *and Development (R&D) Programs*
	Development of Guidance and Procedures for the Seismic Design of Tall Buildings Jointly Awarded to the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center and Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structural Design Council
	*Development of FEMA P-58, Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings Methodology and Companion Performance Assessment Calculation Tool* (PACT)** Awarded to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Category: Extraordinary Innovation in Development of a Community Earthquake Safety Program
	Los Angeles Resilience by Design Program Awarded to the City of Los Angeles
	San Francisco Earthquake Safety Implementation Program Awarded to the City of San Francisco
Category: Extraordinary Innovation in Seismic Protection of Buildings and Lifelines
	Development of Performance-Based Seismic Retrofit Guidelines for Schools Awarded to the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, University of British Columbia’s Earthquake Engineering Research Facility, and the British Columbia Ministry of Education
	Transbay Transit Center, San Francisco Awarded to the Transbay Joint Powers Authority and the Design and Construction Team
	San Francisco Water System Improvement Program Awarded to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

Detailed citations for each award are provided here. For any questions, please contact the Applied Technology Council at (650) 595-1542 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsored by

In-Person Training of FEMA P-154,
Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards,
in conjunction with the EERI 68th Annual Meeting

Tuesday, April 5, 2016
8:00am - 12:00pm
Parc 55 Hotel
55 Cyril Magnin Street
San Francisco, CA

Cost: $35 (covers A/V and venue fees)

To register for the FEMA P-154 training ONLY, click here.

To register for the FEMA P-154 training AND the EERI 68th Annual Meeting, click here.

Purpose. Training on the Third Edition of FEMA P-154, Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards, covers methods and processes that enable users to rapidly identify, inventory, and screen buildings that are potentially seismically hazardous before earthquakes occur. Local officials can use these data to plan and prioritize further engineering and vulnerability analysis, emergency-response needs, and mitigation projects. This training is based on the third edition of the document published by FEMA in January 2015. Although some of the material remains unchanged from the second edition FEMA P-154 (published in 2002), the Third Edition provides major enhancements.

Intended Audience. The target audience for this training includes structural engineers, architects, other design professionals, building officials, construction contractors, architectural and engineering students, and other individuals with a background in building design and construction.

Handouts. This training will include the following hard copy materials for each participant: (1) FEMA P-154, Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards: A Handbook; and (2) FEMA P-155, Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards: Supporting Documentation. For additional copies, U.S. participants may request hard copies of these reports from the FEMA warehouse free of charge by calling 1-800-480-2520. Expedited and international orders may be made through the ATC Online Store by clicking here for FEMA P-154 and here for FEMA P-155.

Training Instructor. Michael J. Griffin, P.E. Griffin is a Principal and partner at CCS Group, Inc. in Chesterfield, Missouri and has over thirty years of extensive experience in the assessment of natural hazards - earthquake and high wind, for structures and nonstructural components, equipment and systems. He is considered an industry expert and has worked in the Midwest, west coast and Caribbean performing earthquake risk assessments and subsequent structural strengthening designs to mitigate the risk of buildings and nonstructural equipment and systems. Griffin served as a member of the Project Technical Committee for the development of the Third Edition of FEMA P-154, Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards: A Handbook, and FEMA, P-155, Rapid Visual Screening of Building for Potential Seismic Hazards: Supporting Documentation. Griffin routinely provides training and education sessions to engineers, management personnel, and students in natural hazards and risk assessments. He holds both a Master and Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of California, Irvine and is registered as a licensed Professional Engineer in seven states.

Contact. Questions about this training may be directed to Veronica Cedillos (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; phone: 650-595-1542).

Registration Information. This training is being held in conjunction with the EERI 68th Annual Meeting. Interested participants have the option to register for the FEMA P-154 training AND the EERI 68th Annual Meeting, or to register for ONLY the FEMA P-154 training.

To register for the FEMA P-154 training ONLY, click here.
To register for the FEMA P-154 training AND the EERI 68th Annual Meeting, click here.

About NETAP. Instructor services and expenses for this training is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Earthquake Technical Assistance Program (NETAP), which is a mechanism for delivering direct assistance to the public to increase their knowledge and ability to analyze their risk, make a plan, and take actions aimed at reducing their earthquake risk and supporting overall community resilience. NETAP is not a grant or cooperative agreement program, but a contract managed by FEMA to rapidly deploy training and technical assistance to organizations and communities. For more information about NETAP please visit the FEMA website by clicking here.

In-Person Training of FEMA E-74,
Reducing the Risks of Nonstructural Earthquake Damage – A Practical Guide,
in conjunction with the EERI 69th Annual Meeting

Tuesday, March 7, 2017
8:00am - 12:00pm
Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront
1401 SW Naito Parkway
Portland, OR 97201

Cost: $35 (covers A/V and venue fees)

To register for the FEMA E-74 training ONLY, click here.

To register for the FEMA E-74 training AND the EERI 69th Annual Meeting, click here.

Purpose. Failure of nonstructural components—which include all components that are not part of the structural system, such as architectural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, as well as furniture, fixtures, equipment, and contents—has accounted for the majority of earthquake damage in several recent U.S. earthquakes. In many cases, businesses, schools, hospitals, and other organizations had to spend excessive time and dollars for clean-up and repair due to nonstructural failures, thus impeding continued operations and rapid recovery. Nonstructural component failures can impede safe evacuation, delay rescue, and cause additional hazards such as fire following an earthquake. The purpose of this course is to describe, in simple terms, the sources and types of nonstructural earthquake damage, as well as effective methods and guidance for reducing the potential risks of injury and property loss from future earthquakes.

Intended Audience. The intended audience for this training includes building owners, facility managers, maintenance personnel, store or office managers, corporate or agency department heads, business proprietors, risk managers, and safety personnel. Design professionals, especially those that do not have experience with seismic protection of nonstructural components, might also benefit from this training.

Recommended Pre-requisite. Prior to the training, it is recommended that participants view a 30-minute independent study training, IS-325, Earthquake Basics: Science, Risk, and Mitigation. The IS-325 training provides basic information on earthquakes, its impacts, and general mitigation techniques. The training may be accessed here.

Training Instructor. Michael J. Griffin, P.E. Griffin is a Principal and partner at CCS Group, Inc. in Chesterfield, Missouri and has over thirty years of extensive experience in the assessment of natural hazards - earthquake and high wind, for structures and nonstructural components, equipment and systems. He is considered an industry expert and has worked in the Midwest, west coast and Caribbean performing earthquake risk assessments and subsequent structural strengthening designs to mitigate the risk of buildings and nonstructural equipment and systems. Griffin served as a member of the Project Review Panel for the development of FEMA E-74, Reducing the Risks of Nonstructural Earthquake Damage – A Practical Guide. Griffin routinely provides training and education sessions to engineers, management personnel, and students in natural hazards and risk assessments. He holds both a Master and Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of California, Irvine and is registered as a licensed Professional Engineer in seven states.

Contact. Questions about this training may be directed to Veronica Cedillos (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; phone: 650-595-1542).

Registration Information. This training is being held in conjunction with the EERI 69th Annual Meeting. Interested participants have the option to register for the FEMA E-74 training AND the EERI 69th Annual Meeting, or to register for ONLY the FEMA E-74 training.

To register for the FEMA E-74 training ONLY, click here.
To register for the FEMA E-74 training AND the EERI 69th Annual Meeting, click here.

Handouts. Each participant of this training will receive an electronic copy of FEMA E-74, Reducing the Risks of Nonstructural Earthquake Damage – A Practical Guide. For additional copies, participants may request CD-ROM from the FEMA warehouse free of charge by calling 1-800-480-2520 or via email and refer to FEMA E-74. Expedited and international orders for the FEMA E-74 document on CD-ROM may be made through the ATC Online Store by clicking here.

About NETAP. Instructor services and expenses for this training are funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Earthquake Technical Assistance Program (NETAP), which is a mechanism for delivering direct assistance to the public to increase their knowledge and ability to analyze their risk, make a plan, and take actions aimed at reducing their earthquake risk and supporting overall community resilience. NETAP serves as a critical resource that local, State, Territory, and other organizations can utilize to acquire earthquake mitigation training and technical assistance in support of community earthquake risk reduction and resilience activities. For more information about NETAP please visit the FEMA website by clicking here.

More Articles ...

Welcome to the ATC Team!