Seismic Design for Port of Los Angeles, 2020 Program

Wittkop, Richard C.; ,

Seismic Design for Port of Los Angeles, 2020 Program

by Richard C. Wittkop, Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Lifeline Earthquake Engineering

Abstract:

Due to the Port of Los Angeles' (POLA) importance as a regional hub for transportation and commerce and the potential for a major seismic event in the Southern California area, earthquake-induced damage represents a major source of risk to existing and planned POLA facilities. The consequences of seismically-induced damage to POLA facilities includes not only the direct impacts of loss of life and structural damage, but also the indirect impacts of loss of service of Port facilities. Proper management of this risk, including strategies for seismic design, seismic risk mitigation, emergency response, and post-earthquake recovery requires a comprehensive, integrated Seismic Safety Plan. The importance of developing and maintaining such a Seismic Safety Plan will be magnified in future years in view of the multi-billion dollar expansion of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach now being planned under their 2020 Program. This program is a master plan for the Ports through the year 2020 and will involve for POLA the creation of over 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of new landfill developed with 20 new cargo handling terminals. To provide a framework for a Seismic Safety Plan for this major program, POLA invited leading experts in all areas of earthquake engineering to a seismic workshop to discuss earthquake issues and problems related to POLA and its 2020 Plan. The results of this workshop will lead to specific recommendations in terms of the three main components of the forthcoming Seismic Safety Plan; seismic risk analysis, seismic hazard evaluation, and geotechnical, structural and construction engineering.

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