Application of the Recommendations of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission to the Design, Construction, and Evaluation of Buildings and Seismic Risk Mitigation Policies in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 427-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
William T. Holmes ◽  
Nicolas Luco ◽  
Fred Turner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
Seismic Risk Mitigation ◽  
Oral Testimony ◽  
Building Safety

An unprecedented level of data concerning building performance in the Canterbury earthquake sequence of 2010–2011 has been collected by the Canterbury Earthquake Royal Commission of Inquiry. In addition to data from a technical investigation undertaken by the New Zealand Department of Building and Housing on four specific buildings, the Royal Commission has collected data from many other invited reports, international peer reviews of reports, submitted testimony, and oral testimony and examination at public hearings. Contained in the Commission's seven-volume final report are 189 specific recommendations for improvements in design codes and standards, hazard mitigation policy, post-earthquake building safety and occupancy tagging, and other topics. Some of these recommendations are unique to New Zealand's system of government, engineering practice, or codes and standards, but many are applicable in the United States.

URM bearing wall building seismic risk mitigation on the west coast of the United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Paxton ◽  
Fred Turner ◽  
Ken Elwood ◽  
Jason M. Ingham
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Seismic Risk ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Seismic Risk Mitigation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Retrofit Design ◽  
Common Target

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are the most common target for seismic risk mitigation programmes, due to their long history of poor seismic performance. While seismic risk mitigation must make use of sound engineering methodologies, good public policy is at the heart of successful programmes. Past URM seismic risk mitigation efforts on the west coast of the United States are summarized herein, as valuable insights have been gained from both successful and unsuccessful programmes. Programme details such as compliance deadlines, retrofit design techniques, and retrofit/demolition rates are provided for cities throughout California, Oregon and Washington states, and the overall observed effectiveness of mandatory versus non-mandatory seismic strengthening programmes is discussed.

On Understanding Everything: General Education, Liberal Education, and the Study of Religion

PMLA ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 460-466
Author(s):  
Amy Hollywood
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
General Education ◽  
Liberal Education ◽  
Preliminary Report ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Ethical Life ◽  
Reason And Faith

In October 2006, the Harvard University task force on general education issued a preliminary report describing and justifying a new program of general education for Harvard College. Contending that “[g]eneral education is the public face of liberal education,” the task force enumerated what a person liberally educated in the twenty-first-century United States should know—or, perhaps better, know how to think about in reasoned and nuanced ways (Preliminary Report 3). The report called for seven semester-long courses in “five broad areas of inquiry and experience”: Cultural Traditions and Cultural Change, The Ethical Life, The United States and the World, Reason and Faith, and Science and Technology. In addition, the task force suggested that students be required to take three semester-long courses that “develop critical skills”: writing and oral communication, foreign language, and analytic reasoning (6). Not surprisingly, “Reason and Faith” generated some of the most heated discussion—and it was the first suggested requirement dropped by the task force, replaced in December 2006 by a new category, “What It Means to Be a Human Being.” By the time of the final report, this too was gone, replaced by “Culture and Belief,” an area of inquiry that may include the study of religion but is broader in scope than what was initially proposed (Report of the Task Force 11–12).

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