Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) Seismic Upgrades

Hospital, 1: Earthquake, 0. The score is now in favor of the hospital. With more than 1.2 million outpatient visits each year, the U.S. Navy needed to assess the seismic performance of its Naval Medical Center San Diego to mitigate potential risk and improve the medical center’s operational status following an earthquake or other large scale disaster. Reid Middleton was responsible for the seismic evaluation and upgrade of one of the U.S. Navy’s premier medical facilities. The campus includes 23 buildings totaling nearly 2.5 million square feet. With an active earthquake fault adjacent to the site, a comprehensive seismic program was needed for the facility to understand and mitigate the risk. Detailed ASCE 41-06 performance-based seismic evaluations (structural and non-structural) and conceptual seismic upgrades design were provided for the Main Hospital, North Clinic, South Clinic and Central Plant buildings. These buildings total 1.2 million SF of medical mission space.

The estimated $47 million seismic upgrades for the 1.2 million SF Main Hospital, Clinics, and Central Plant included installation of 420 fluid viscous dampers at 219 locations within the facility and installation of a state-of-the-art seismic monitoring system.

Awards

• 2017 Outstanding Project Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) San Diego
• 2018 Certificate of Merit, Retrofit/Alterations Category, Structural Engineers Association of San Diego
• 2019 Gold Award for Complexity, ACEC Washington