Roofs Built To Resist Earthquakes

One way to resist ground forces is to lift the building s foundation above the earth.

Roofs built to resist earthquakes.

This is best done with profiled steel cladding on light gauge steel zed purlins. 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. Earthquake damage caused by the building having no structural framing where the upper floors and roof are simply built on to masonry walls. Here are some of the methods used to help buildings withstand earthquakes.

Create a flexible foundation. This can be done with profiled steel cladding together with a layer of added insulation. Since earthquakes release energy that pushes on a building from one direction the strategy is to have the building push the opposite way. Wind forces on a roof tend to be uplift forces.

When designing earthquake safe structures the first consideration is to make the highest bit the roof as light as possible. It can have a roof slope between 3 and 15 degrees. Kelvin doerr director of engineering and technical services at fox blocks says basically it comes down to stronger thicker structural members with better connections. This can also have double skin with spacers and insulation.

This is difficult because some sort of framing is vital. A 30 degree roof slope has the best results. Earthquake resistant or aseismic structures are designed to protect buildings to some or greater extent from earthquakes. 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.

Gable roofs are generally more common because they are cheaper to build.