ATC Announces Request for Proposals to Conduct Trial Evaluations of Buildings in the United States Using the ATC-78-3 Methodology

NEWS RELEASE
September 25, 2015

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The Applied Technology Council (ATC), in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is seeking proposals from U.S. engineering firms to conduct trial evaluations of older concrete frame structures using the methodology described in the ATC-78-3 Report, Seismic Evaluation of Older Concrete Frame Buildings for Collapse Potential (ATC, 2015), which was developed with FEMA funding. Trial evaluations are being sponsored by FEMA to test the clarity and usability of the methodology, assess the level of effort required to implement, and determine if calibration is necessary.

A complete description of the scope of services to be performed, required qualifications, submittal requirements, subcontract terms, selection criteria, selection process, and schedule are provided in the Request for Proposals (FEMA), available on the ATC website (www.atcouncil.org). The report can be downloaded from the ATC website here. The closing date for the submission of proposals is October 30, 2015.

The methodology described in the ATC-78-3 report is under ongoing development, and expansion of the methodology to address concrete wall systems is currently underway. This solicitation is the second in a series of planned trial evaluation programs intended to inform future versions of the methodology. The following additional solicitations can be expected:

A future Request for Proposals funded by the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), to be announced approximately one year from now, that will solicit the involvement of Southern California engineers to conduct a trial evaluation of the methodology for concrete wall buildings located in California.

Response and/or participation in one Trial Evaluation Program will not preclude response and/or participation in future programs.

More information about the ATC-78 Project Series is available here.

Welcome to the ATC Team!

As a former Principal at Magnusson Klemencic Associates in Seattle, Mike comes to ATC with more than 30 years of structural engineering experience in new design, evaluation and retrofit of existing buildings, applied research, and codes and standards development. Mike’s design experience includes the landmark Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, and his research and development experience includes the FEMA 356 Prestandard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings, FEMA P-2012 Assessing Seismic Performance of Buildings with Configuration Irregularities (ATC-123 Project), and NIST GCR 10-917-9 Applicability of Nonlinear Multiple-Degree-of-Freedom Modeling for Design (ATC-76-6 Project).

Mike also has extensive experience as an ATC consultant serving as a reviewer, a technical contributor, and Project Director on multiple ATC projects. We look forward to how Mike’s unique experiences as a successful team member will contribute to ATC projects in the future.

Retired from federal service as a Senior Geophysicist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Mike comes to ATC with more than 30 years of experience in hazard mitigation program management and policy development, post-disaster response and recovery, and problem-focused research and development in support of FEMA’s efforts under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP). He has led FEMA’s earthquake-related work with the International Code Council and has been involved with the development of national model codes and standards since 1984.

In his career at FEMA, Mike has led the development of countless major FEMA publications, including: FEMA 350 Recommended Seismic Design Criteria for New Steel Moment-Frame Buildings and its series of companion reports (ATC-41 Project series), FEMA P-58 Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Methodology and Implementation (ATC-58 Project series), FEMA P-695 Quantification of Building Seismic Performance Factors (ATC-63 Project), FEMA P-2018 Seismic Evaluation of Older Concrete Buildings for Collapse Potential (ATC-78 Project), and FEMA P-2090/NIST SP-1254 Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time (ATC-137 Project). With Mike’s extensive knowledge of federal government programs, and past collaboration with state and local agencies, hazard mitigation partners, and code development organizations, we look forward to how his unique experiences will help serve ATC’s client needs and objectives in the future.