Monday, January 24, 2011

California Soft Storey Buildings Untouchable

Article

Report author and SJSU engineering professor Guna Selvaduray said the survey was inspired by the Santa Clara County Emergency Managers' Association and partially funded by the Santa Clara County Emergency Preparedness Council -- but that his team's executive board feared they would be exposed to litigation if the list caused property values to fall.

I love the whole story about soft stories!  :)   You see 'spider legs' in Toronto all the time.  Basically these buildings need parking to survive in California, and they sometimes just cut out the first storey and use whispy-thin columns to support the building.  Naturally, they don't do diddly squat when an earthquake comes around, and they collapse on the cars.  Hopefully the rest of the building stands up, but no guarantees!

Anyway, nobody can gawk and point at these things because the value will go down, and they can sue.  We need Wikileaks!!!

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