Press Clips
Five Things Construction Specialties Learned from Shaking a 10-Story Building
BCD Network | September 19, 2023
Construction Specialties (CS) is the only manufacturer in the market that can claim its modular stair system can withstand 100 earthquakes. Thanks to extensive practical testing conducted this spring at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) on the tallest building ever to be seismically tested, CS has identified five significant insights that will impact all future research and development in stair solutions. Full Story
Behind the scenes of the TallWood shake table test at UC San Diego
ASCE/Civil Engineering Source | August 28, 2023
It is often said: ?The bigger they are, the harder they fall.? But the largest full-scale building ever tested on the University of California San Diego?s newly upgraded outdoor shake table remained upright through dozens of earthquake simulations run over several weeks. Full Story
How a 10-Story Wood Building Survived More Than 100 Earthquakes
Bloomberg | June 5, 2023
The structure is the tallest ever subjected to simulated earthquakes on the world?s largest high-performance ?shake table,? which uses hydraulic actuators to thrust the steel platform through six degrees of motion to replicate seismic force. The shake-table trials at a University of California at San Diego facility are part of the TallWood Project, an initiative to test the seismic resiliency of high-rise buildings made of mass timber. Full Story
Earthquake tests could help wooden structures reach new heights
NSF | May 23, 2023
The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure, or NHERI, TallWood project is simulating the earthquakes at the Large High Performance Outdoor Shake Table at the University of California, San Diego. Both the NHERI TallWood project and the shake table are funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to advance the nation's infrastructure resilience. Full Story
Shake tables are way more complex than I thought
Tom Scott | May 22, 2023
At the University of California San Diego, there's the Shake Table: an earthquake simulator with the heaviest payload capacity in the world. ■ More about the table: https://nheri.ucsd.edu/ and the building: http://nheritallwood.mines.edu/ Full Story
Tall wood building is shaken, but not scathed
Science | May 11, 2023
A 10-story wooden building survived two severe, simulated earthquakes intact this week as scientists sought to show that wood can rival steel and concrete to safely support tall buildings. The structure is the tallest ever tested at the University of California, San Diego?s earthquake simulator. Full Story
What scientists discovered after simulating an earthquake on a 10-story wood building
ABC News | May 10, 2023
Researchers have successfully simulated a high magnitude earthquake on the largest building ever tested, and the structure survived. Global interest in mass timber construction -- which involves thick, compressed layers of wood, bonded together, creating structural load-bearing elements -- has skyrocketed in the last several years, after the International Building Code announced the intention to add new building provisions to allow the construction of wood buildings up to 18 stories, Shiling Pei, associate professor at the Colorado School of Mines, told ABC News. Full Story
Watch it sway: 10-story tower survives fake quake in possible boon for tall wood buildings
Los Angeles Times | May 10, 2023
A 10-story tower mostly made of wood withstood a simulated 7.7 earthquake on UC San Diego?s outdoor shake table Tuesday, underscoring a belief by some engineers that such structures could safely be used as homes and offices in areas near big faults. Full Story
10-story wood building passes earthquake test
KPBS News | May 10, 2023
The building swayed as it would have in the 1999 Jiji earthquake in Taiwan. That magnitude 7.7 quake killed more than 2,000 people. Buildings made of steel and concrete were destroyed. But the wood-framed high rise, built recently on UC San Diego?s Scripps Ranch shake table, showed no visible damage. Full Story
Simpson Strong-Tie Participates in 7.7 Moment Magnitude Earthquake Test of 10-Story Mass Timber Building
Structure Magazine | May 10, 2023
Simpson Strong-Tie, the leader in engineered structural connectors and building solutions, announced today the successful completion of a series of seismic tests on the tallest building yet subjected to earthquake simulations. Tests on the 10-story mass timber structure were conducted as part of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) TallWood Project, a research project funded by the National Science Foundation and building industry partners to prove the strength and seismic resiliency of mass timber as a low-carbon structural building material. Full Story