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A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Performance of School Buildings in the Joplin, MO, Tornado
In the tornado of May 22, 2011 that struck Joplin, MO., two large schools were significantly damaged by the intense winds of that storm. Those schools together had space for over 2700 students. The high school was built in 1968 and the middle school was built in 2009 yet the performance of these two complexes from the tornadic winds was very similar. This paper will describe the damage to the schools and discuss some possible reasons for those results providing important lessons for rebuilding. The damage to the high school was extensive, particularly in high bay areas like the gymnasium and the auditorium. However, exterior walls also collapsed in courtyardfacing single-story classrooms and the exterior walls of the center section of the school were shredded with wind-borne debris while newly built walkways managed to remain standing because of strong load path continuity. The concrete floors and roof of the center section of the school provided sufficient strength to keep those elements of the structure intact. The middle school was also extensively damaged in the high bay areas of the gymnasium and auditorium. The one story sections of the school survived quite well except for some broken windows, but none of the roof or exterior walls of those one story sections were damaged. In the high bay areas, it appears the roofs lifted or were shifted from their connection to the walls and this allowed the walls to collapse in both the gymnasium and auditorium. The gymnasium wall was precast or tilt-up concrete covered with a brick veneer and the auditorium wall was CMU covered with brick. There were many failures in both schools at connections of common materials easily detailed in the type of construction utilized by both schools. This paper will also address the frequently observed condition of a lack of load path continuity in both the older and newer school and offer some mitigation strategies for rebuilding in this community where design wind speeds are only 90 mph (ASCE 7-05) yet where severe winds from tornadoes are a known and frequent hazard.
Performance of School Buildings in the Joplin, MO, Tornado
In the tornado of May 22, 2011 that struck Joplin, MO., two large schools were significantly damaged by the intense winds of that storm. Those schools together had space for over 2700 students. The high school was built in 1968 and the middle school was built in 2009 yet the performance of these two complexes from the tornadic winds was very similar. This paper will describe the damage to the schools and discuss some possible reasons for those results providing important lessons for rebuilding. The damage to the high school was extensive, particularly in high bay areas like the gymnasium and the auditorium. However, exterior walls also collapsed in courtyardfacing single-story classrooms and the exterior walls of the center section of the school were shredded with wind-borne debris while newly built walkways managed to remain standing because of strong load path continuity. The concrete floors and roof of the center section of the school provided sufficient strength to keep those elements of the structure intact. The middle school was also extensively damaged in the high bay areas of the gymnasium and auditorium. The one story sections of the school survived quite well except for some broken windows, but none of the roof or exterior walls of those one story sections were damaged. In the high bay areas, it appears the roofs lifted or were shifted from their connection to the walls and this allowed the walls to collapse in both the gymnasium and auditorium. The gymnasium wall was precast or tilt-up concrete covered with a brick veneer and the auditorium wall was CMU covered with brick. There were many failures in both schools at connections of common materials easily detailed in the type of construction utilized by both schools. This paper will also address the frequently observed condition of a lack of load path continuity in both the older and newer school and offer some mitigation strategies for rebuilding in this community where design wind speeds are only 90 mph (ASCE 7-05) yet where severe winds from tornadoes are a known and frequent hazard.
Performance of School Buildings in the Joplin, MO, Tornado
Coulbourne, William L. (author) / Miller, John (author)
Structures Congress 2012 ; 2012 ; Chicago, Illinois, United States
Structures Congress 2012 ; 989-998
2012-03-29
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Performance of School Buildings in the Joplin, MO, Tornado
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 2012
Engineering Index Backfile | 1912