100-year-old schools receive seismic upgrades to teach future generations.
Preserving history. Bellingham School District needed to keep its students and faculty safe in its historic school buildings. Reid Middleton was the prime consultant and structural engineer for the seismic evaluation and upgrades design for a $16-million seismic improvements program for district school and administration buildings. The project included detailed state-of-the-art seismic evaluation and upgrades design for five historic school district facilities totaling over 281,000 SF. Design elements included new concrete shear walls, roof and floor diaphragm strengthening, fiberwrap column strengthening, and seismic ties between walls and floor and roof diaphragms. Design, permitting and construction work was phased over a 5-year implementation program to minimize disruption to school staff and students.
