Oakland, CA
Bay Area Rapid Transit, Earthquake Safety Program
Scope/Solutions
Carrying about 360,000 commuters every day, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is an important part of the region’s transportation infrastructure. Knowing that the transit system could experience a major earthquake, BART initiated the Earthquake Safety Program to upgrade vulnerable and high-volume sections of the system to help them quickly reinstate service following an event. Under a term contract, SGH performed seismic assessments and assisted with upgrading this critical transit system.
Over a four-year period, SGH assessed the seismic vulnerability of station buildings and platforms, repair yard facilities, control towers, administrative offices, and parking garages system-wide. Highlights of our work include the following:
- Performed seismic evaluations and developed preliminary upgrade designs for seven elevated parking structures, maintenance facilities at Hayward and Daly City stations, administrative offices, and system control towers
- Developed seismic criteria for designing new parking structures and retrofitting existing parking structures
- Peer reviewed a seismic evaluation of the McArthur station
- Mentored and provided technical review for BART in-house engineers performing upgrades of some buildings and structures
- Acted as the engineer for record for the seismic upgrades of the Pleasant Hill parking structure, designed new shear walls within the frames adjacent to the speed ramps, and developed a solution resulting in no loss of parking spaces and allowing construction while the structure remained in service
Photo by Nick Fisher
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Project Summary
2008
Completion Date
Solutions
Repair & Rehabilitation
Services
Structures
Markets
Infrastructure & Transportation
Specialized Capabilities
Seismic Engineering
Key team members
Additional Projects
West
Bingham Canyon Mine
SGH evaluated the tunnel structure and helped the mine operator establish a monitoring program to identify when the tunnel exceeded its ability to support additional load.
West
Indian Valley Reservoir
The Indian Valley Reservoir provides long-term irrigation storage and flood control. A 2010 inspection report recommended seismic analyses of the floodgates and control structure to confirm the gates could be raised following a earthquake. SGH evaluated the seismic performance of the two structures.