Roofs Built To Resist Earthquakes

Once these walls shake a bit the entire strength is lost and the building will collapse or pancake during an earthquake.

Roofs built to resist earthquakes.

The roof of an earthquake resistant building must be as light as possible too. Here are some of the methods used to help buildings withstand earthquakes. In south florida all roofs must be built to withstand 146 mph wind forces and by using metal ties strapping and other reinforcement most builders use wood to meet this standard. This is difficult because some sort of framing is vital.

While no structure can be entirely immune to damage from earthquakes the goal of earthquake resistant construction is to erect structures that fare better during seismic activity than their conventional counterparts. Create a flexible foundation. This can be done with profiled steel cladding together with a layer of added insulation. It can have a roof slope between 3 and 15 degrees.

A 30 degree roof slope has the best results. Kelvin doerr director of engineering and technical services at fox blocks says basically it comes down to stronger thicker structural members with better connections. Earthquake damage caused by the building having no structural framing where the upper floors and roof are simply built on to masonry walls. One way to resist ground forces is to lift the building s foundation above the earth.

This is best done with profiled steel cladding on light gauge steel zed purlins. Since earthquakes release energy that pushes on a building from one direction the strategy is to have the building push the opposite way. This can also have double skin with spacers and insulation. Gable roofs are generally more common because they are cheaper to build.

It s also important that the floors and walls of the building are made as lightweight as possible.