About The Authors
Ron Klemencic, P.E., S.E., is President of Magnusson Klemencic
Associates (MKA), a structural and civil engineering rm headquartered in
Seattle, Washington. Ron is an American Concrete Institute (ACI) Fellow
and serves on the ACI Board of Directors. He is a voting member of ACI
318, 318H, 318D, ITG 5, and 374. Ron is a former chairman of ACI 374
and was awarded the ACI 2010 Alfred E. Lindau Award. He recently
led the development and U.S. adoption of Performance-Based Seismic
Design methodology for high-rise structures.
Ian S. McFarlane, P.E., is a Senior Design Engineer at Magnusson
Klemencic Associates (MKA), a structural and civil engineering rm
headquartered in Seattle, Washington. He is the firm’s in-house
foundation design specialist, and has experience designing a number
of building types including high-rise residential towers, healthcare, and
ofce buildings.
Neil M. Hawkins, PhD, Dist. M. American Society of Civil Engineers, Hon.
M. ACI, Fellow Structural Engineering Institute, Fellow Portland Cement
Institute, is Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has served on the
Main Committee and the Seismic Code Committee of ASCE 7 since
2001. He has been a member of the Main Committee and the Seismic
Subcommittee of ACI 318 since 1995. He served on the Building Seismic
About the Review Panel
The contributions of the three review panelists for this publication are
gratefully acknowledged.
Gregg E. Brandow, PhD, P.E., S.E., is the former President of Brandow
& Johnston, Structural Engineers, in Los Angeles, California, where he
led the rm’s design of over 4,000 projects, including schools, hospitals,
and highrise buildings. He is now a Principal with Brandow & Nastar
and a Professor of Engineering Practice at the University of Southern
California. He has over 40 years of structural design experience,
earthquake reconnaissance opportunities, and forensic engineering. He
is active with SEI and ASCE and is Chair of the Structural Engineering
Licensure Coalition.
Viral B. Patel, P.E., S.E., is Senior Principal and Managing Director of the
Research and Development Group at Walter P. Moore and Associates
Inc., a National structural/civil engineering firm headquartered in
Houston, Texas. Mr. Patel is responsible for directing the Research &
Development group, which develops and disseminates standardized
resources, processes, and design tools to all Walter P Moore ofces
around the country. Mr. Patel also serves as consultant to senior project
managers on all major projects throughout the rm. He is a member of
ACI committees 375 and 314 and subcommittee 318-E.
James K. Wight, P.E., is the F.E. Richart, Jr. Collegiate Professor of Civil
Engineering at the University of Michigan. He is a Fellow of ASCE and
ACI. He is well-known nationally and internationally for his research in
earthquake-resistant design of concrete structures. Professor Wight
is the current President of the American Concrete Institute and has
previously held several important positions including Chair of the ACI
Building Code Committee. He has received numerous awards for his
teaching and research including the ACI Joe Kelly Award, the C.P. Siess
Award for Excellence in Structural Research, and the Wason Medal for
the Most Meritorious Paper.
National Institute of
Standards and Technology
NIST is a federal technology agency within the U.S. Department of
Commerce that promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness
by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways
that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life. It is the
lead agency of the NEHRP. Dr. John (Jack) R. Hayes, Jr., is the Director
of NEHRP within NIST’s Engineering Laboratory (EL). Dr. Steven L.
McCabe managed the project to produce this Technical Brief for EL.
NEHRP Consultants Joint Venture
This NIST-funded publication is one of the products of the work of
the NEHRP Consultants Joint Venture carried out under Contract
SB134107CQ0019, Task Order 11175. The partners in the NEHRP
Consultants Joint Venture are the Applied Technology Council (ATC) and
the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering
(CUREE). The members of the Joint Venture Management Committee
are James R. Harris, Robert Reitherman, Christopher Rojahn, and
Andrew Whittaker, and the Program Manager is Jon A. Heintz.
NEHRP Seismic Design
Technical Briefs
NEHRP (National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program) Technical
Briefs are published by NIST, the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, as aids to the efficient transfer of NEHRP and other
research into practice, thereby helping to reduce the nation’s losses
from earthquakes.
Safety Council (BSSC) Foundations and Concrete Subcommittees from
1987 through 2010 and on the BSSC Provisions Update Committee from
1997 through 2010.
Sissy Nikolaou, PhD, PE, is a Senior Associate at Mueser Rutledge
Consulting Engineers in New York City. She leads the rm’s geo-seismic
services, which have been key on design or retrot of several critical
projects, such as the Hillview Reservoir Cover, Columbia University’s
Manhattanville Campus, and the Queensboro and Woodrow Wilson
Bridges. She chairs the committee for the NYC Seismic Building Code.
Sissy has received the Shamsher Prakash award for Excellence in
Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and was recently elected as
the rst President of the New York-Northeast regional Earthquake
Engineering Research Institute chapter.
Consortium of Universities for Research in
Earthquake Engineering (CUREE)
1301 South 46th Street - Building 420
Richmond, CA 94804
(510) 665-3529
Applied Technology Council (ATC)
201 Redwood Shores Parkway - Suite 240
Redwood City, California 94065
(650) 595-1542
CUREE