By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-929337.mp3
Troy, NY – There was earthquake Wednesday on a Troy college campus ... Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas has details on the simulated temblor.
Professors at RPI are kicking their civil engineering program up a notch. In line with the college celebrating its 175th year in offering the civil engineering degree, they've publicly demonstrated an earthquake simulator or "Seismic shake" table, used to reproduce earthquakes in the laboratory. The test specimen had seismic dampers installed within both walls. It was presented as a National Science Foundation Network For Earthquake Engineering project.
The table is intended to teach students how to build buildings more resistant to violent earthquakes. Professors pointed out that the 1994 magnitude 6.7 earthquake in Northridge, California clearly demonstrated the seismic vulnerability of wood-framed construction. A wooden frame built by students features a brace they developed that should greatly reduce damage from earthquakes. Students have traveled to San Francisco to work on stabilizing that type of home construction, in hopes that it will, in time, be the benchmark for wood-frame buildings in earthquake-prone areas.