About the author  ⁄ Ronald L. Mayes, Ph.D.

Ronald L. Mayes. Ph.D. (rlmayes@sgh.com), is a senior consultant at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. with significant management and technical experience in earthquake and structural engineering.

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. was an Outstanding Award Winner for the East Station Plaza – Danseurs (Dancers) project in the 2014 NCSEA Annual Excellence in Structural Engineering awards program (Category – Other Structures).

Union City, California wanted to develop a civic plaza to the east of the Union City BART station. Although money was tight due to the economic downturn, the City allocated local grant funding for the plaza upgrades.

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From Conceptual Design to Implementation

Over the past 15 years, and particularly following the events of September 11th 2001, there has been increasing demand to incorporate blast resistance in important government and commercial facilities. Exterior walls of such buildings are designed to withstand blast impulse loading without a failure that would endanger building occupants, either through penetration of harmful debris or pressure waves. Operators of petrochemical facilities are also concerned about similar explosive threats due to large accidental explosions.

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STRUCTURE magazine