FRP Project Wins Prestigious National Award

Tucson-based QuakeWrap has been awarded the International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) 2006 Award of Excellence for its seismic retrofit of the historic McKinley Tower in Anchorage, Alaska.

This was the largest building ever retrofitted using Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) products. The national award was given out to QuakeWrap founder, University of Arizona civil engineering professor Dr. Mo Ehsani to acknowledge QuakeWrap’s creative achievement and innovation in repairing and strengthening the concrete structure.

The 14-story building was severely damaged during 1964’s infamous Good Friday earthquake, the strongest recorded earthquake in North America at a magnitude of 9.2. After minor cosmetic repair, the building was put in use but in early 1980’s the City of Anchorage revoked is occupancy permit, demanding that the building be seismically upgraded. High repair costs kept the concrete structure vacant for two decades and the building became known to locals as the “Spooky Skyscraper.”

The McKinley tower was rescued by QuakeWrap’s innovative retrofit. Carbon and glass FRP were used to confine columns and wall boundary elements and to strengthen shear walls and floors at a fraction of conventional retrofit costs.

Publication Date: 19/11/2006

WWW Link: http://www.QuakeWrap.com

 Subscribe to our Composite News Feed