Assessment, Strengthening, and Repair Technologies for Buildings, Industrial Facilities, and Lifelines

Published

March 1, 1998

Author(s)

Richard N. Wright

Abstract

Experiences of catastrophic earthquakes such as San Francisco 1906, Kanto 1923, Northridge 1994, and Kobe 1995 show that great human and economic losses arise from unsatisfactory performance of the built environment: buildings, industrial facilities, and life lines (public works and utilities). While earthquakes are inevitable hazards, they are not inevitable disasters. U.S. and Japanese experiences have shown that properly sited, designed and constructed structures can resist earthquake effects. This paper describes what the central governments of the United States and Japan, in cooperation with one another and with industry, academia and with industry, academia and local governments, can do in supporting the further development, testing and application of assessment, strengthening, and repair technologies for buildings, industrial facilities, and lifeline systems. The scope includes new materials and systems, large scale testing and development of recommendations for design guidelines, standards and practices. The resulting knowledge and practice will support disaster mitigation, emergency assessments of vulnerability and damages, and post earthquake recovery investments.

Conference Dates

September 17-19, 1997

Conference Location

Kobe, JA

Conference Title

U.S.-Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources; Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects (UJNR)

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

disaster mitigation, earth science, earthquake engineering, earthquakes, Japan, meteorology, seismology, social science, United States

Citation

Wright, R. (1998), Assessment, Strengthening, and Repair Technologies for Buildings, Industrial Facilities, and Lifelines, U.S.-Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources; Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects (UJNR), Kobe, JA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860010 (Accessed April 27, 2026)

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