NEES System Wide Grand Opening and Local Media Open House - November 15, 2004
The nees@berkeley Equipment Site participated in the NEES System Wide Grand Opening on November 15, 2004. A media event/open house was held from 10:00-1:00. There were continuous test demonstrations, live coverage of the NSF event and light refreshments were served.
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Press Articles Note Opening of nees@berkeley
Upgrades aid quake studies site network will consider effects on structures
by Guy Ashley
Published in Contra Costa Times on Tue, Nov. 16, 2004
"RICHMOND - For scientists studying the potential devastation of earthquakes, it is an old workhorse: a giant metal vise that can put up to 4 million pounds of pressure on structural columns to test their ability to withstand seismic forces.
But thanks to $4.5 million in upgrades, the 72-year-old piece of machinery is now a vital component in a new nationwide network of research sites scientists hope will improve understanding of how structures react to major quakes."
An orange squeezer
QUAKE SIMULATION OPENS NEW SCIENCE NETWORK
by Glennda Chui
Published in The Mercury News on 2004 November 16.
"The scene: A state-of-the-art earthquake lab in Richmond.
The victim: A concrete column reinforced with rods of steel -- the type of thing that holds up modern buildings.
The perp: A hulking metal machine. Height, 65 feet. Weight, nearly half a million pounds. Color, orange. Many prior offenses.
The crime: Witnesses saw the machine press down on the top of the column with unrelenting force. Bits of concrete crumbled and fell. The steel bands that held the column together began to burst.
As the force reached 1.5 million pounds, the column couldn't take it anymore. Bang! Onlookers flinched as a reinforcing rod three-quarters of an inch in diameter gave way."
UC Berkeley Lab Aims to Make Buildings Stronger
Source: KCBS (AM radio station)
Publication date: 2004-11-15
"(KCBS)—Some high tech research in Richmond is influencing how buildings in California are constructed so they can withstand and absorb the shock of major earthquakes.
KCBS reporter Dave Padilla says a six-story steel compressor can unleash four million pounds of pressure at the UC Berkeley Earthquake Simulation Lab in Richmond."
