Two interesting questions:
Why aren't they instrumenting bldgs today with relatively cheap MEM accelerometers?
Who decided to spend the equivalent of 200K on force balance accelerometers and other electronics 40 years ago for a public bldg out in the desert?
Bret Cahill
Hey, it's in Kalifornia! They've got money to burn out there. They not only give it to our poor but they just encourage ANYBODY from ANYWHERE to walk in and take it from the rich Gringos. Consider the money spent on instrumenting some community building as some that wasn't wasted for a change.
Because it is a dumb idea on many, many levels.
If you had read your own link you would know that.
Every time Southern California shakes a Caltech Earth Sciences grad student writes his PhD.
In the 1970's, there was a lot of concern over the so-called Palmdale Bulge. Trouble is, it now appears the bulge never existed.
...
A good article underscoring the need for precision distance measurements of fault lines.
Some article said frequency drops as a reinforced concrete structure is degraded -- kind of like burning out resistors in circuit.
Bret Cahill
Someone in coastal California pretty much knew the building was coming down.
"Hey, the hayseeds out in Imperial Valley just build this county services bldg. that cannot survive a 6.0. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY! We'll instrument it and find out what happens to the frequency response of RC structures during an earthquake . . ."
Bret Cahill
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required