Cruz del Sur: a Seismically-Resistant Coral-esque Structure
How do you build an earthquake-resistant structure that looks like coral? This Seismic Saturday, we travel to Santiago, Chile, to feature the Cruz del Sur Building. The first thing that the eye catches is the structure’s surprising form, starting thin and expanding outward up the building (figure 2). A thick central shaft, which takes both…
“El Mirador” Observation Platform in Baja California, Mexico
We travel south of the border this #seismicsaturday to Baja California, Mexico. Featured is an observation platform at “El Mirador” (The Lookout) in San Pedro Mártir Nacional Park, at 9100 ft. ⛰️The platform is made with a cantilever steel truss structure. The main truss extends outward, reducing its depth as it goes (Fig. 2). Secondary truss structures…
Floating Airport in San Diego?
Where to build a new airport? This question has dogged San Diego for years. San Diego International Airport (AKA Lindbergh Field) has only 1 runway and is overloaded. One proposed solution is a floating airport. We feature this idea for #seismicsaturday. ✈️In the early 2000s, several SD companies began advocating for a floating airport to be…
Blizzards and Gondolas: The Squaw Valley Tram Car Failure
High wind has caused deadly consequences for gondolas. This #seismicsaturday we tell the story of the Squaw Valley Tram Car failure. On April 15, 1978, a blizzard with gale force winds caused the tram car (pictured above), which was heading down the mountain, to unlatch from the first of it’s support “track” cables. Track cables…
Saul Chaplin 