Structural Engineers Support School Bond Act of 2006

The Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC) supports Proposition 1D which affords Californians an opportunity to take further steps toward helping to ensure that our K-12 public schools are life-safe in the event of an earthquake.

Over the last three decades, government agencies throughout California have conducted a variety of inventory programs aimed at assessing the seismic safety of facilities within their jurisdiction.  These inventories have included municipal programs involving specific types of seismically hazardous buildings (e.g. un-reinforced brick masonry buildings) and state programs involving state-owned bridges and buildings (including essential services buildings), higher education facilities (including the Community College, California State University, and the University of California campuses), and most recently acute-care hospitals.

In 1999, the State Legislature decided that it was time to engage in a similar inventory for schools that house pupils enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th grade.  In support of the ensuing legislation, Assembly Bill 300, the Legislature declared the following:

“California’s ‘lucky streak’ of not having an earthquake during school hours is still enjoyed today, but that good fortune cannot be relied on forever.  It is likely that a damaging earthquake will strike the state during school hours in the future, and if it does, pupils are likely to be harmed due to partial or full structural collapse, as well as due to nonstructural failures of some older buildings…”    

The results of that inventory by the Division of the State Architect (DSA) were published by the Department of General Services (DGS) three years later, in November of 2002, and are still quite relevant.  Bill Andrews, a practicing structural engineer and current Director of SEAONC, discussed these findings during a recent presentation to the SEAONC membership.  He stated that approximately 7500 individual school buildings statewide (over 1000 in the Bay Area) representing about 65 million square feet of floor area or 14% of the total square footage of California public school buildings are potentially vulnerable in a seismic event.  In terms of rehabilitation costs, this translates to approximately $4.7 billion for retrofit construction.

Thanks to the generosity of voters in recent elections as well as the foresight and determination of a number of individual school districts throughout California (including Berkeley, Fremont, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and West Contra Costa) some of the buildings identified in the 2002 inventory have already been improved; however, most remain on the “vulnerable” list.  Proposition 1D would allocate up to $200 million in matching funds for “purposes of seismic repair, reconstruction, or replacement” of these facilities.  While this is clearly not enough to mitigate potential seismic hazards associated with all of California’s vulnerable Kindergarten through 12th Grade buildings, it is another responsible step in the right direction.  

Founded in 1930, SEAONC is committed to advancing the art and science of structural engineering.  For more information on these topics, please contact:

            Doug Hohbach, SEAONC President, 650-617-5930

            Bill Andrews, SEAONC Board Member, 415-243-8400

            Peter Revelli, SEAONC Board Member, 415-568-4400