Ms. Phoebe Cheng (Principal Engineer at SC Solutions) presented a case study on the seismic analysis and performance-based retrofit design of several large buried water storage reservoirs at the 3rd International Conference on Performance-based Design in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering (PBD-III). The conference was hosted by the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (Technical Committee TC203 on Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Associated Problems (ISSMGE-TC203)) in Vancouver, BC, Canada, with the objective of advancing performance based-design practice in civil infrastructure projects. The conference brought together an international community of professional engineers, researchers, and facility owners, to share project case histories, recent research findings, and innovative technologies.
In her talk, Ms. Cheng discussed the applicability of the current United States design codes and the shortcomings of the code-based methods for the design of buried water reservoirs, the utilization of performance-based design principles, seismic hazard, three-dimensional soil-fluid-structure interaction simulation, structural responses and cause of deficiencies, and mitigation measures. Her case study is a joint seismic assessment and retrofit project with our partners CH2M and Shannon&Wilson, for Seattle Public Utilities.
Ms. Cheng also co-authored another paper “Seismic Performance Evaluation of Underground Structures – Past Practice and Future Trends.”
More information about the PBD-III 2017 is available here.