When the Northridge earthquake rocked Los Angeles on Jan. 17, 1994, damaging or destroying thousands of buildings throughout the region, UCLA was nearly a decade into a seismic safety construction retrofit program.
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When all of the work is completed in 2019, a total of 66 buildings — nearly 10 million square feet worth — will have been made seismically safer. The total cost: $2.2 billion.
"Since 1985, assuring the structural safety of campus buildings has been one of our top priorities," said Steve Olsen, UCLA's vice chancellor and chief financial officer, who oversees the capital programs unit, which manages the work. "Seismically strengthening such a large number of buildings has been a complex and difficult task. Despite the challenges, we are now nearing completion of the work and are incredibly proud of the results."
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Using previous temblors as catalysts, the program was an intensive effort to bring campus buildings up to the latest standards and increase safety for building occupants. Spurred by the Northridge temblor, UCLA expanded the program, piecing together funding from multiple sources, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, state and University of California bond funding, private donations and campus resources.When all of the work is completed in 2019, a total of 66 buildings — nearly 10 million square feet worth — will have been made seismically safer. The total cost: $2.2 billion.
"Since 1985, assuring the structural safety of campus buildings has been one of our top priorities," said Steve Olsen, UCLA's vice chancellor and chief financial officer, who oversees the capital programs unit, which manages the work. "Seismically strengthening such a large number of buildings has been a complex and difficult task. Despite the challenges, we are now nearing completion of the work and are incredibly proud of the results."
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