Lifeline Earthquake Engineering at the Turn of the Century

Hall, W. J.; ,

Lifeline Earthquake Engineering at the Turn of the Century

by W. J. Hall, Univ of Illinois, Urbana, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Lifeline Earthquake Engineering

Abstract:

The author considers it a singular honor to be the first recipient of the C. Martin Duke Award under the auspices of the Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering (TCLEE) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and takes this opportunity to thank all those who made it possible. The author knew Martin Duke, and admired his vision, leadership and perseverance in working to establish this council. It had been apparent in many of the earlier earthquakes, about which Martin Duke wrote summary papers, as for example the 1957 Mexican Earthquake and the 1960 Chilean Earthquakes, that lifelines of various types were subject to damage in the same manner as buildings. Moreover he was acutely aware of the vital importance of lifelines to the personal well being of the public as well as to the sustaining infrastructure required by society today. The 1964 Alaskan Earthquake, which has been accorded the most detailed documentation of damage to date, confirmed without doubt to the world the vulnerability of lifelines, and the effect of damage to lifelines on the population and general well being of society.

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