In response of today’s economic crisis, experts are searching for more economical yet more durable means of construction materials and methods. Funded by National Science Foundation under the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Program, a research was conducted by professors of University of Michigan to test their new technique for constructing high-rise reinforced concrete buildings. A team led by Professor James K. Wight and Associate Professor Gustavo Parra-Montesinos, developed a new way of bracing high rise building to withstand a drift of up to 3 percent during earthquake. The study will allow skyscrapers to withstand lateral deformation than an earthquake would demand.

   
James K. Wight, Ph.D., PE (left) and Gustavo J. Parra-Montesinos, Ph.D. (right)