Uncategorised

NEWS RELEASE
January 01, 2016

For more information, contact
Carrie Perna

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Applied Technology Council (ATC) and the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers are pleased to announce the immediate availability of The ATC-SEI 2015 Proceedings, Conference on Improving the Seismic Performance of Existing Buildings and Other Structures.

This second conference on Improving the Seismic Performance of Existing Buildings and Other Structures was organized by the Applied Technology Council and the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and held in December 10-12, 2015 in San Francisco, California.

The conference program was structured to provide a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of new information on the seismic evaluation and seismic rehabilitation of existing buildings and other structures, including case studies, new discoveries, innovative use of new technologies and materials, nonstructural component anchorage and bracing, implementation issues, needed improvements to existing standards and methods, and socio-economic issues.

The Conference Proceedings contain an indexed .pdf version of a majority of the papers and poster presentations given at the Conference. The ATC-SEI Conference Proceedings is available in electronic format only, and the CD-ROM can be obtained from the Applied Technology Council, 201 Redwood Shores Parkway, Suite 240, Redwood City, California 94065 (phone, 650-595-1542; fax, 650-593-2320) or the ATC Online Store. Price: $100.00 per CD-ROM (plus shipping and sales tax).

NEWS RELEASE
September 25, 2015

For more information, contact
Technical Information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Proposal Information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Applied Technology Council (ATC), in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is seeking proposals from U.S. engineering firms to conduct trial evaluations of older concrete frame structures using the methodology described in the ATC-78-3 Report, Seismic Evaluation of Older Concrete Frame Buildings for Collapse Potential (ATC, 2015), which was developed with FEMA funding. Trial evaluations are being sponsored by FEMA to test the clarity and usability of the methodology, assess the level of effort required to implement, and determine if calibration is necessary.

A complete description of the scope of services to be performed, required qualifications, submittal requirements, subcontract terms, selection criteria, selection process, and schedule are provided in the Request for Proposals (FEMA), available on the ATC website (www.atcouncil.org). The report can be downloaded from the ATC website here. The closing date for the submission of proposals is October 30, 2015.

The methodology described in the ATC-78-3 report is under ongoing development, and expansion of the methodology to address concrete wall systems is currently underway. This solicitation is the second in a series of planned trial evaluation programs intended to inform future versions of the methodology. The following additional solicitations can be expected:

A future Request for Proposals funded by the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), to be announced approximately one year from now, that will solicit the involvement of Southern California engineers to conduct a trial evaluation of the methodology for concrete wall buildings located in California.

Response and/or participation in one Trial Evaluation Program will not preclude response and/or participation in future programs.

More information about the ATC-78 Project Series is available here.

NEWS RELEASE
September 15, 2015

For more information, contact
ATC at (650) 595-1542 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Applied Technology Council (ATC), with assistance from Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA), has developed a website that provides a way for users to easily obtain an ASCE 7 site-specific ground snow load. A site can be selected by directly entering the GPS coordinates or the mailing address into the input window of the website. If needed, a map of the United States can be used to find the GPS coordinates of a particular site.

This website overcomes the challenges in using the snow load map that is printed in ASCE 7, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. These challenges include insufficient spatial resolution of the map to determine some site-specific ground snow loads and the lack of reference cities or towns on the map.

On the ATC Ground Snow Loads website, users can obtain loads from the ground snow load map printed in ASCE 7-95 through ASCE 7-10 (1995, 1998, 2002, 2005, and 2010). Ground snow load is used with the equations provided in ASCE 7 to determine design snow loads for buildings and other structures.

The ground snow load site is now available for use free of charge at snowload.atcouncil.org. The site also provides a link to the windspeed website where ASCE 7 site-specific wind speeds can be obtained. Users are encouraged to provide ATC with feedback so that enhancements can be planned.

The Applied Technology Council (ATC) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation established in 1973 through the efforts of the Structural Engineers Association of California. ATC's mission is to develop and promote state-of-the-art, user-friendly engineering resources and applications for use in mitigating the effects of natural and other hazards on the built environment. ATC also identifies and encourages needed research and develops consensus opinions on structural engineering issues in a nonproprietary format. ATC thereby fulfills a unique role in funded information transfer. The ATC website and online bookstore is located at www.ATCouncil.org. For more information about the ATC Ground Snow Load website, contact ATC via phone at (650) 595-1542 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Founded in 1956, the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) serves manufacturers and suppliers as it works to promote the metal building systems industry. Its membership represents more than $2.4 billion in annual sales and accounts for approximately 52% of the total non-residential low-rise construction market in the United States. The association provides a wealth of technical information on its website, www.mbma.com, for anyone who works with or is interested in metal building systems, and publishes numerous technical manuals and design guides.

Click here to download the ATC Ground Snow Load Website flyer.

NEWS RELEASE
August 21, 2015

The Applied Technology Council (ATC), in cooperation with the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), is seeking proposals from Southern California engineering firms to conduct trial evaluations of older concrete frame structures using the methodology described in the ATC-78-3 Report, Seismic Evaluation of Older Concrete Frame Buildings for Collapse Potential (ATC, 2015), which was developed with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Trial evaluations are being sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety to determine if the ATC-78-3 evaluation methodology could be used as part of a program to mitigate the risk of older concrete buildings in Los Angeles.

A complete description of the scope of services to be performed, required qualifications, submittal requirements, subcontract terms, selection criteria, selection process, and schedule are provided in the Request for Proposals (LADBS), available on the ATC website (www.atcouncil.org). The report can be downloaded from the ATC website here. The closing date for the submission of proposals is September 25, 2015.

The methodology described in the ATC-78-3 report is under ongoing development, and expansion of the methodology to address concrete wall systems is currently underway. This solicitation is the first in a series of planned trial evaluation programs intended to inform future versions of the methodology. The following additional solicitations can be expected:

A similar FEMA-funded RFP, to be announced in the next few weeks, that will solicit the involvement of engineers to evaluate the ATC-78-3 methodology for concrete frame buildings located in regions of moderate or high seismicity throughout the United States.
A future LADBS-funded RFP, to be announced approximately one year from now, that will solicit the involvement of Southern California engineers to conduct a trial evaluation of the methodology for concrete wall buildings located in California.

Response and/or participation in one Trial Evaluation Program will not preclude response and/or participation in future programs.

More information about the ATC-78 Project Series is available here.

In response to the magnitude-7.6 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, the Applied Technology Council will be providing a 120-minute recorded webinar on the Second Edition of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual: Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings, for free viewing (for a limited time).

The purpose of the webinar is to provide an overview of the basic postearthquake safety evaluation procedures to those who are interested in responding to the earthquake in Nepal. Please note that in order to use the procedures in Nepal, the evaluator will need more comprehensive training, as well as an in-depth understanding of the local construction methods. Accordingly, would-be evaluators should contact engineering organizations in Nepal, such as National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET), for further information and training. The Seismic Vulnerabilities Guideline for Private and Public Buildings - Part II: Post Disaster Damage Assessment document, developed by NSET based on the ATC-20 Methodology, is available here.

Professional development hour (PDH) credits or certifications will not be presented to viewers of this webinar. A 5-hour long in-person comprehensive training course is available on-demand from ATC and is better suited for training postearthquake safety evaluators. You may learn more about this option here.

The webinar is based on the ATC-20-1 Field Manual that was developed for the building inventory typical to the United States. The scope of the procedures are for buildings only and do not cover other structures, such as bridges and dams. The evaluation forms and posting placards contained within the document can be downloaded for free from here. A copy of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual is highly recommended for reference. A printed copy of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual can be obtained here. An electronic version of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual is not available.

The Applied Technology Council first published the ATC-20, Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings, report in 1989 (under a contract from the California Office of Emergency Services and the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development) to document procedures and guidelines for the safety evaluation of damaged buildings. The document was written specifically for use by volunteer structural engineers, and for building inspectors and structural engineers from city building departments and other regulatory agencies, who would be required to make on-the-spot evaluations and decisions regarding continued use and occupancy of damaged buildings. Two weeks after the completion of the ATC-20 report, the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area in California and caused casualties and significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. Immediately following the earthquake, the ATC-20 methodology was used. Since 1989, a family of ATC-20 documents has been developed; and this second edition of the Field Manual (ATC-20-1) provides the ATC-20 methodology in a concise, easy-to-use field reference document that trained professionals can take into damaged areas.

In January 2015, ATC completed the development of ATC-20-1 Field Manual Bhutan Edition, which is an adaptation accounting for Bhutan’s vernacular buildings, as well as Bhutan’s cultural and governmental context. This work was developed through a partnership of ATC, GeoHazards International (GHI), and the Royal Government of Bhutan’s Department of Engineering Services (DES) and Department of Disaster Management (DDM), with support from the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the Applied Technology Council Endowment Fund. You can read more about the ATC-20-1 Field Manual Bhutan Edition here.

More Articles ...

Welcome to the ATC Team!