Seismic Design Criteria for Foundations on Control Piles
Control piles have been widely used in Mexico City for underpinning buildings with excessive settlements caused by the consolidation of the soft clay deposits, and as a foundation solution...
Performance Characteristics of Structures, 1985 Mexico City Earthquake
The 1985 Mexico City earthquake caused major damage to buildings, but not other structures, in the center of Mexico City, located approximately 400 km. from the epicenter. Due to soil...
Preliminary Dynamic Analyses of the Ministry of Agriculture Building
The Ministry of Agriculture building on Avenida San Antonio Abad was originally constructed as a 17 story reinforced concrete structure using a waffle slab system with interior reinforced...
Implications of Structural Characteristics on Failure
Performance of buildings with two common structural types, many of which suffered heavy structural damage or collapse, are analyzed. Conclusions are drawn that no structural type is inadequate,...
Observations on Structural Pounding
In over 40% of the collapsed or severely damaged buildings in Mexico City, pounding of adjacent buildings occurred, and in at least 15% was the primary cause of collapse. The main objectives...
R/C Frame Drift for 1985 Mexico Earthquake
This paper contains the results of a parametric study of the displacement response of multi-story reinforced concrete frames. Nonlinear lateral displacement responses were calculated for...
Evaluation of Performance of Concrete Buildings Damaged by the September 19, 1985 Mexico Earthquake
As a part of a general evaluation of the structural behavior of buildings during the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, a detailed study of 8 damaged concrete buildings has been performed....
Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Framing Systems
On September 19, 1985, Mexico City was hit by what is believed to have been the most damaging earthquake in its recorded history. In this report, a ground motion recorded in the severely...
Performance of Steel Structures
A description of the various types of steel structures built in Mexico City is made, including comparisons of the older types of steel construction with more modern buildings. Performance...
Effects on Infrastructure
Effects on the transportation and communications infrastructure due to the earthquakes of September 19 and 20 are described and analyzed. It can be concluded that these effects were actually...
Summary of the Effects of the 1985 Mexico Earthquake to Power and Industrial Facilities
A major industrial area and two power plants are near the epicenter of the Magnitude 8. 1 Mexico Earthquake of September 19, 1985. All investigated facilities are modern, generally well...
Seismic Rehabilitation: Why, When and How
Common methods of seismic rehabilitation are: repair of cracks, reconstruction of structural elements, addition of stiffening elements, and addition of dampers. A major consideration is...
Damage Assessment and Seismic Behaviour of Steel Buildings in Mexico City
Preliminary reports on the September 1985 earthquakes indicated 10 steel buildings collapsed and 2 more severely damaged. The total number of buildings found either collapsed or severely...
Repairing and Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Buildings Damaged in the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake
This paper describes briefly the criteria and techniques used for the repairing and strengthening of reinforced concrete buildings damaged in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquakes. It...
Emergency Regulations and the New Building Code
The 1942 Federal District Building Code was crude and overoptimistic. The 1957 earthquake prompted the drafting of emergency regulations, modern and more realistic. They evolved into the...
Thoughts on a Different Approach to Seismic Design Codes
The aim of this paper is to show that some of the principles on which conventional structural design is based are not directly applicable to seismic design. Seismic design, and the corresponding...
The Impact of the Construction of Public Works by the Earthquakes of September 1985
The earthquake of September 19th and 20th, 1985, is discussed with emphasis on general damage. The works of the Head Office of Urban Services is described in relation to emergency response....
Selenium Threatens Irrigators, Wildlife
Irrigation drainage water has seldom been treated to remove pollutants, but it soon will be treated in California. Drainage from a large portion of the San Joaquin Valley must be treated...
Radon at Home
Radon-222 is a radioactive gas that is present in all homes and found in several million homes in the U.S. at levels that have medical experts concerned about its potential to cause lung...
Monitoring for Hazardous Waste Leaks
It is safer and cheaper to keep hazardous wastes out of the groundwater and the ground than to remove them. But better monitoring will be required. In this three-part article, the first...
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