ScholarLens Back to search
1993•Structural Engineering in Natural Hazards MitigationRequires access

Code Provisions for Unreinforced Masonry Bearing Wall Buildings in California

Melvyn Green

Open publisher page 4 citations

Abstract

Prior to the Long Beach earthquake of 1933, unreinforced masonry (URM) construction was usual in California, as it still is in many areas of the United States. The poor performance of these URM buildings in that earthquake led to State legislation regulating first new construction, then existing buildings. In addition, various cities have enacted seismic retrofit ordinances. Ultimately, seismic strengthening of existing URM bearing wall buildings was covered in a model building code, the Uniform Code for Building Conservation. This paper discusses the hazards presented by unreinforced masonry structures and presents a history of code development for their strengthening.

About this research paper

What this paper is about

Prior to the Long Beach earthquake of 1933, unreinforced masonry (URM) construction was usual in California, as it still is in many areas of the United States. The poor performance of these URM buildings in that earthquake led to State legislation regulating first new construction, then existing buildings. In addition, various cities have enacted seismic retrofit ordinances. Ultimately, seismic strengthening of existing URM bearing wall buildings was covered in a model building code, the Uniform Code for Building Conservation. This paper discusses the hazards presented by unreinforced masonry structures and presents a history of code development for their strengthening.

Why it matters

OpenAlex reports 4 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

Key contribution

A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Method / approach

Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Main findings

Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Limitations

Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Applications

Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Available abstract

Prior to the Long Beach earthquake of 1933, unreinforced masonry (URM) construction was usual in California, as it still is in many areas of the United States. The poor performance of these URM buildings in that earthquake led to State legislation regulating first new construction, then existing buildings. In addition, various cities have enacted seismic retrofit ordinances. Ultimately, seismic strengthening of existing URM bearing wall buildings was covered in a model building code, the Uniform Code for Building Conservation. This paper discusses the hazards presented by unreinforced masonry structures and presents a history of code development for their strengthening.

Key concepts: Unreinforced masonry building, Masonry, Building code, Engineering, Civil engineering, Legislation, Architectural engineering, Forensic engineering

Related papers

Related paper 1Related paper 2Related paper 3
Back to paper searchBrowse research topicsOriginal source
Code Provisions for Unreinforced Masonry Bearing Wall Buildings in California — Research Paper | ScholarLens