On January 22, 2019, the city of Oakland adopted the municipal ordinance (OMC) No. 13516, also known as the Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program. As part of that program, the owners of buildings that appear on the List and Map of Potential Soft Story Buildings have been notified that their building may be subject to […]
All posts in category City of Oakland
Oakland Mandatory Soft Story Ordinance
Posted by admin on August 14, 2019
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=578
A Residential Seismic Retrofits Grants May Soon Be Available for Eligible Oakland Property Owners!
The City of Oakland has requested a federal funding for two programs that provides grant for Oakland property owners that are interested in seismic retrofitting their property. If the City of Oakland receives the funds, property owners will be contacted to complete a full application. The criteria to participate in the programs are as follow: […]
Posted by admin on September 29, 2016
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=530
EQ IQ (Continued)
Additional steps you can take to secure you home. These steps are paraphrasing and adding to another New Yorker article by Kathryn Shultz “How to Stay Safe When the Big One Comes” as it relates to SF Bay Area. See the previous post that talks about earthquake facts and crawl space strengthening and foundation bolting […]
Posted by admin on August 19, 2015
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=497
EQ IQ
If haven’t read this month’s New Yorker article about the Cascade fault that spans from Vancouver down to Northern California (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one), you definitely should. It’s a fascinating read and has a lot of useful information, especially in the light of a little jolt that we had this morning. Here are some take aways from the […]
Posted by admin on August 17, 2015
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=493
Napa wake up call!
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated in 2007 that there is a 63% probability of at least one magnitude 6.7 or greater quake, capable of causing widespread damage, striking the San Francisco Bay region before 2030. There is a 67% probability of a similarly sized earthquake striking the Southern California region within the same period. […]
Posted by admin on September 26, 2014
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=467
Video of Simulated Soft-Story Building Collapse due to Earthquake
In the following video clip, engineers test a soft-story building with a 6.7 magnitude simulated earthquake to determine the effects of a large earthquake on buildings with a soft-story condition. The results are quite dramatic, as the bottom floor of the building collapses, and the building topples sideways. Click on the link below to watch […]
Posted by admin on February 14, 2014
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=337
D/B or not D/B, that is the question
The term “soft story” building describes a building with a level or story that is significantly more flexible than stories above it, such as an open parking area or a commercial space, which can be hazardous in the event of an earthquake. The Bay Area has thousands of these building. Damage to soft story buildings […]
Posted by admin on March 14, 2012
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=153
City of Oakland Soft-Story Ordinance
After attending the City of Oakland’s presentation at the RHANAC Expo, as well as a presentation on seismic ordinances at the PCLC Apartment Market Symposium last Wednesday, I felt it would be beneficial to explain the City of Oakland’s Soft-Story Ordinance. The City has just begun sending out the first notifications, so I expect that […]
Posted by admin on March 22, 2010
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=52
Why Retrofit?
Although current soft-story ordinances do not require a mandatory retrofit of your building, you must retrofit your building to have it removed from the soft-story inventory list. To encourage owners to complete voluntary retrofits, the City of Alameda will waive all plan review and inspection fees for soft-story retrofit projects if they are submitted within […]
Posted by admin on March 1, 2010
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=38
Soft-Story Buildings: An Overview
What is a soft-story building? The term “soft-story building” describes a building with a level or story that is significantly more flexible than the stories above it, which can be hazardous in the event of an earthquake. In multi-unit wood-frame buildings, weakness at the ground level stems from large openings in perimeter walls or insufficient […]
Posted by admin on February 8, 2010
https://enginious-structures.com/softstoryblog/?p=8