An Apartment Soft Story Retrofit Can Secure Your Structure Against Collapse
Many of the older apartment complexes built in the earthquake prone areas of the West Coast were designed as soft story structures. The open spaces along the bottom of the building make them particularly susceptible to damage and collapse when an earthquake strikes. Soft story apartment complexes will remain vulnerable to such damage unless they can be retrofitted to increase their stability and protect your establishment from collapsing when an earthquake strikes.
What are soft story buildings?
Many structures built before the 1990’s were designed as soft story structures. What does this mean? The front faces of such buildings are typically open, meaning that the structure is left open to provide space for parking.
Most of these structures are only supported by light columns and beams, so when an earthquake hits, buildings are typically subjected to lateral movements. The eventual outcome is the collapse of the building. What’s worse is that the top floors often come tumbling down to the ground.
It is estimated that over 20,000 soft story apartment complexes exist in Los Angeles alone, and only 800 have been seismically retrofitted.
The importance of soft story retrofitting
Luckily, there is a solution to making apartment complexes in Southern California, and other earthquake prone areas of the West Coast, safer to live in. An apartment soft story retrofit can be carried out on your building to strengthen the parking areas against collapse during an earthquake.
Retrotting your structure is important because it helps to prevent structural damage, as well as harm to people and their property. In addition, it keeps you compliant with some city regulations regarding earthquake preparedness.
What does the process involve?
During an apartment soft story retrofit, the open face of the structure is secured using a combination of concrete grade-beams, vertical-columns, and moment frames. Seismic retrofitters will typically install a steel frame strategically along open spaces of the building to provide extra support. They will also add concrete footings under the moment frames and a drag line to complete the stability of the soft-story structure.
If you need an apartment soft story retrofit, Saunders Construction can assist. We specialize in commercial/industrial retrofitting for multiple types of commercial buildings. Contact us today to begin improving the stability of your structure.