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Product Development
BauTech,
Inc. /BauGrid Reinforcement
Forensic Engineering
Residential Engineering
Commercial Engineering
Custom
Design
Slope Stabilization
Testing
of Structures
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San
Francisco State University Dormitory
San
Francisco, California
 17- Story student
dormitory on campus at SFSU was built in
1989. Baumann Engineering was
brought into the project in 1987.
At that time, Baumann Engineering
proposed the use of a product called (at
that time) MedoMesh, which was a product
he had invented and was working to
develop with a company called Meadow
Steel. Agreement was reached to
perform tests at the University of
California, Irvine, which showed that
using the new reinforcement product, the
ductility of the building was increased,
and so the earthquake forces the
building must be designed to withstand
could be calculated at a lower
level. This allowed a redesign of
the building which reduced 10"
thick shearwalls to 7" thick
shearwalls, dramatically reducing the
client's costs of materials (concrete,
rebar, lap steel), equipment (crane time
was reduced) and labor (manual
assembly drastically reduced
labor. The UC Board of Regents at
the time included several engineers, and
it was agreed that the Board would
review the proposed design, which it
did, and then approved it. When
the building was about 90% complete (at
about the 14th story, however most of
the square footage is below the 14th
floor) the Loma Prieta earthquake
struck. Despite its proximity to
the San Andreas Fault (approx. 1.5
miles), upon inspection Baumann
Engineering found no evidence of
earthquake damage, not even hairline
cracks often associated with new
concrete.
Owner:
California State University System
Contractor:
Perini Corporation
Architect:
Bodrell Joer'dan Smith, AIA
Structural
Engineer:
Reinforcement
Engineer: Baumann Engineering
Rebar
Supplier: JL Davidson
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