As South Carolinians participate in “Earthquake Awareness Week,” the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is preparing to host a national seismic conference on ways to minimize the risk of bridge collapse due to an earthquake and to reduce damage to the highway infrastructure.
Governor Mark Sanford proclaimed November 4 – 10, 2007, as “Earthquake Awareness Week.” In his proclamation, Governor Sanford said the goal is “to increase awareness of earthquake safety, to participate in the South Carolina Emergency Management Division’s 2007 Statewide Earthquake Drill in the morning of November 7, 2007, and to help further statewide preparedness and education.”
SCDOT is host of “The Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges & Highways” to be held July 27-30, 2008, in Charleston. The Federal Highway Administration co-sponsors the conference with the Transportation Research Board and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
“I am very proud and pleased that SCDOT, which is recognized as a national leader on seismic design of bridges, has been chosen to host this significant conference,” said South Carolina Secretary of Transportation H. B. “Buck” Limehouse Jr.
“It also is fitting that the conference will be held in Charleston. The city’s notable past includes the massive earthquake of 1886, while its future is symbolized by the state-of-the-art Cooper River Bridge.”
The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge over the Cooper River, which opened in 2005, has received international interest for its state-of-the art features and a cutting-edge design built to enable the bridge to be back in service within hours following an earthquake. The bridge, which links Charleston with Mount Pleasant, is the longest cable-stay span in the western hemisphere.
This sixth in a series of biennial conferences will emphasize “Seismic Technologies for Extreme Loads” as its theme. The conference objective is to increase awareness of natural hazards, in particular earthquakes, and to enhance the technical expertise of engineering professionals so they can have the latest tools to mitigate the risk of damage to the highway infrastructure, applying earthquake research and technology to other natural hazards.
Past conferences have been held in San Diego (December 1995), Sacramento (July 1997), Portland (April 2002), Memphis (February 2004) and San Francisco (September 2006).
“The conference will provide a forum for exchanging ideas,” Limehouse said. “I am pleased that this conference historically not only attracts participants from across the United States, but also from countries such as Japan, China, Canada, Denmark, Taiwan, Chile, Italy and Mexico. Some of these countries have suffered the devastation caused by earthquakes.”
Over 60 papers will be presented at the conference and researchers will share their findings from regional and national perspectives. The conference will also feature select international speakers, recognized as authorities in the field, who will be able to provide yet another perspective. In addition to the oral presentations, poster displays will detail other interesting projects and studies. Both oral and poster presentations will be published on a proceedings CD. In addition, conference organizers are sponsoring a special “Bridge Seismic Competition” session as a way to create awareness among engineering students, and a liquefaction “hands-on” event to demonstrate some of nature’s unique phenomena.
On the final day of the conference, there will be an optional technical tour of the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge over the Cooper River.
For more information on the conference, visit: www.scdot.org/events/6NSC
A high-resolution portrait of Secretary of Transportation H.B. "Buck" Limehouse Jr. is available for download at the following location:
http://www.scdot-transfer.org/scdotphotos/Limehouse.jpg
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