National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program

NEHRP Earthquake Structural and Engineering Research

Award

Under solicitation number SB1341-07-RP-0036, contract number SB134107CQ0019 was awarded to the NEHRP Consultants Joint Venture for a maximum amount of $30,000,000.00. The period of performance is the date of the award, September 10, 2007, through September 9, 2012. The contract is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) hybrid contract. Individual task orders will be issued under the umbrella of the IDIQ contract during the performance period.

About the NEHRP Consultants Joint Venture

The NEHRP Consultants Joint Venture was formed by the Applied Technology Council (ATC) and the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE) in cooperation with the Mid America Earthquake Center, the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, and the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center to conduct this contract.

Overall program management, including project participant selection and technical scope and approach definition, is provided by the Joint Venture Management Committee working in concert with the Program Manager and the Joint Venture Project Committee (JVPC). The Joint Venture will subcontract with committee members to arrange for their consulting services unless the member would be redundantly compensated for that time by their employer.

Members of the JVPC have been selected to provide the Joint Venture with national perspective and broad-based insight regarding the selection of the most qualified project participants. One member of the JVPC will serve as an ex-officio member of the Project Review Panel on each task order project to independently monitor work on behalf of the Joint Venture. If project involvement is being considered for a committee member, that member shall participate in the project participant selection process in accordance with the JVPC Policy on Conflicts of Interest.

Specific Tasks

In 2003, ATC completed a study for NIST that culminated in a report, ATC-57, The Missing Piece: Improving Seismic Design and Construction Practices (PDF 2.6MB). In this report, ATC outlined a broad problem-focused research, knowledge development, synthesis, and technology transfer program for NIST to follow in fulfilling its role within NEHRP—this outline has become known as a "road map" for NIST earthquake hazard reduction research. The purpose of this contract is to develop a NIST partnership with practitioners and research institutions that will be used to implement the "road map."

Through a series of specific task orders, the Contractor will be tasked to use its structural engineering, earthquake science, and earthquake engineering experience and expertise in the following areas:

1. Provide technical support for the seismic and structural engineering practice and national model building code development, consisting of short-term, practical, applied research projects, typically requiring one month or less of effort by knowledgeable engineers. An example of such a short-term study might include developing guidance on establishing realistic limits on the use of linear static analysis techniques with current building code-based factors to estimate the response of actual building structures.
2. Perform problem-focused, practitioner-oriented research and development to develop the technical basis for performance-based seismic design or other, similar performance-based structural design. This research is anticipated to be somewhat longer-term in nature (extending over multiple years) and will likely involve either analytical or experimental research, or a combination of both. Anticipated experimental research will be performed using experimental facilities of the George E. Brown, Jr., Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES). This work would support the efforts of FEMA and others to develop and implement improved, performance-based recommended model building code provisions and guidelines.
3. Perform problem-focused, practitioner-oriented research and development to develop the technical basis for practical and cost-effective evaluation and reduction of hazards in existing buildings. Such hazards may be earthquake-related but may also involve other extreme loading conditions (e.g., wind, blast, fire). This research is anticipated to be somewhat longer-term in nature (extending over multiple years) and will likely involve either analytical or experimental research, or a combination of both. Anticipated experimental research will be performed using experimental facilities of NEES, as well as proven Contractor experimental research expertise. This work would support the efforts of FEMA and others to develop and implement improved, cost-effective approaches to hazard mitigation in existing buildings.
4. Perform problem-focused research and develop technical resources (e.g. guidelines and manuals) to improve seismic, structural, and geotechnical engineering practice. This work will to a large extent involve "linking" basic research products from work sponsored by NSF with continuing FEMA efforts to develop and implement technical resources, in effect enhancing the technical basis for those resources and putting the NSF research results to practical use. An example of such an effort might be performing the research needed to provide detailed and accurate guidance on the use of fiber-reinforced polymer retrofit techniques under actual field conditions.
5. Evaluate, synthesize, and summarize available seismic and other extreme hazard mitigation data, information, and technology, including the results of many years of NSF-funded research results. Summaries will be produced in the form of "technical briefs." These techbriefs would address single, focused topics and have clear, actionable guidance for designers or construction professionals.
6. Improve design and construction productivity by incorporating and integrating seismic and structural design codes, analysis tools, and analytical methods in the building information modeling and electronic data exchange efforts of organizations such as the International Alliance for Interoperability. Current and future seismic and structural engineering provisions found in the International Building Code, with all associated software and interfaces, may be targeted for forming a new Industry Foundation Class that would reduce fragmentation in the design and construction communities and improve the acceptance and use of U.S. technologies throughout the world.
7. Provide expert planning for problem-focused research in each of the six above-mentioned areas, as well as technical review of research program plans and individual research efforts.

A Summary of Task Order Projects that NIST has awarded to the NEHRP Consultants Joint Venture is available online.

Key Personnel

Selected qualifications and experience of the official principal investigators (PIs) and key personnel assigned to this effort are summarized below:

• Christopher Rojahn, P.E., Principal Investigator
  Mr. Rojahn, ATC Executive Director, has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of earthquake engineering and structural engineering, including extensive research on the earthquake response of buildings, bridges, and other structures. During his tenure at ATC, he has served as PI on more than 50 major projects involving earthquake and natural hazard mitigation issues, including development of: earthquake risk mitigation strategies for urban areas; earthquake damage and loss evaluation data and methodology; methods for the seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings, bridges and other lifeline structures; methods for rapid and detailed seismic capacity evaluation of buildings; guidelines for the seismic rehabilitation of buildings; and procedures for post-earthquake safety evaluation of buildings. He has also led numerous workshops on various technical issues related to the seismic design and performance of buildings, bridges, and other structures. Prior to joining ATC, Mr. Rojahn served as a Research Civil Engineer for the Seismic Engineering Branch of USGS.
• Robert Reitherman, Co-Principal Investigator
  Mr. Reitherman is the technical editor for the SEAOC Blue Book: Seismic Design Recommendations (ongoing series of articles published by SEAOC). He has also been the Executive Director of CUREE since 1995. Prior to that time, he was the principal consultant for the Reitherman Company, providing earthquake-related and emergency planning consulting services to corporate clients, public sector entities, and federal agencies such as FEMA and the National Academy of Sciences.
  
  Mr. Reitherman has served as PI on a variety of NSF-funded projects, including Computer-Aided Earthquake Analysis and Planning for Businesses and Organizations; Seismic Performance of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings; Northridge Earthquake Research Conference and Workshop; NEES Consortium Development Project; and Building A Network Between Civil Engineers and Science Museums. He was awarded the 2005 FEMA-Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Professional Fellowship, on the topic of "History of Earthquake Engineering From An International Perspective," and served as co-PI of the project, Japanese Private Sector Earthquake Programs and Their Applicability in the United States and the Electronic Encyclopedia of Earthquakes.
• Andrew S. Whittaker, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator
  Dr. Whittaker is a Professor in the Department of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo. He currently serves as the President of CUREE, one of the Joint Venture partners. He is a registered civil and structural engineer in the State of California. Dr. Whittaker provides consulting, peer-review and expert-witness services to private companies, local, state, and federal government agencies in the United States, South America, Europe, United Kingdom, Russia, Australia, and Asia. A focus of his consulting work is the application of seismic protective systems, new technologies and performance-based design to buildings, bridges, and power-related infrastructure. Fields of work related to earthquake engineering include historic structures, tall buildings, oil and gas production and transmission infrastructure, nuclear power and waste storage facilities, U.K. MoD marine assets, nuclear safety-related buildings and dry docks, long- and short-span bridges, mission-critical buildings and infrastructure, towers, airport infrastructure, and monumental buildings.
• James Robert Harris, P.E., Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator
  Dr. Harris, founding principal of J. R. Harris & Company Denver, Colorado, is well versed in structural engineering practice and research. He has designed or evaluated hundreds of structures ranging from dwellings to high-rise buildings including industrial facilities, long spans, buildings in the highest seismic zones, excavation bracing, pile and pier foundations, vibration issues, and renovations of historic buildings. This background spans nearly all types of construction and structural materials and includes responsibility for management of all design disciplines. His experience includes six years of full-time research, which has focused on the loading and response of structures, particularly earthquake and snow loadings, as well as on improving the formulation and use of engineering standards. He is an active member of several committees that produce national standards for structural engineering practice, and his expertise there was recognized by his election to the National Academy of Engineering.
• Thomas R. McLane, Joint Venture Representative
  Mr. McLane is the Director of Business Development at ATC and manages marketing, administrative, and financial functions related to the procurement life cycle. Prior to joining ATC, Mr. McLane was the Senior Director of Business Development for ASCE, where he created the Business Development Department and directed all business development and contractual efforts for a staff of over 200, a membership of 125,000, and an annual budget of $53M. From 1990 to 1994, Mr. McLane was the Program Development Director of the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards, Inc. and managed all business development and contractual functions for a staff of engineers and architects with annual revenues of $4M.
• Jon A. Heintz, Program Manager
  Mr. Heintz, a structural engineer and Director of Projects at ATC, has extensive experience in advanced seismic analysis methods, evaluation and strengthening of existing buildings, and collaboration with university researchers in analytical studies. He is actively involved in the development of codes and standards for existing buildings. Mr. Heintz participated in post-earthquake investigations immediately following the 1989 Loma Prieta, 1994 Northridge, and 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquakes, performing damage assessments and correlation studies with strong motion records. He also participated in post-hurricane damage assessments immediately following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005.

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