Plan In Place To Save Cal's Earthquake-Susceptible Stadium

Engineers Develop Plan To Strengthen Memorial Stadium Against Earthquake Damage

A team of S.F. engineers said that it "has found a way to save" the Univ. of California's Memorial Stadium from "crumbling into a pile of concrete rubble during a major earthquake," according to Carolyn Jones of the S.F. CHRONICLE.  The stadium was built atop the Hayward Fault in 1923. The plan "is expected to get under way in the next year or two" and calls for "portions of the stadium to be sliced into blocks that will rest on plastic sheets." Sections directly on top of the fault "will be cut into three large free-floating blocks," and the blocks "will be separated from the surrounding structure by 5 feet of open space, which will give the blocks room to wobble and twist -- but not topple -- in the event of an earthquake." Hinged steel flaps would "prevent people from falling through the 5-foot gaps around the blocks," while the blocks "would sit on plastic sheets unanchored to the soil, so when the earth moves the blocks should stay put, more or less." Jones notes though "plenty of buildings around the world sit atop earthquake faults, Memorial Stadium is unique because of the sheer quantity of people it holds: 75,662." The project's cost "is estimated at between [$150-175M]," and funds for the retrofit "must be privately raised" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/25).