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IBC Site Class - Cost Issues 1

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KMR1

Civil/Environmental
Jul 19, 2006
2
Dear All,

First of all, thanks to TDAA for very helpful hints.

I have a basic question. Hope someone could help.

Within US, let us say for a medium construction project if I want to define a Site Class as D (based on limited drilling data and IBC codes interpretation), how much difference in terms of structural design point of view and costs would it make from any other better classes, say C or B etc (assuming that my classification is more conservative than what the actual site class is!)

From TDAA's response, I understand there will be lot of other factors too which need to be considered on this matter. At the same time, I wanted to know how this factor alone, assuming all others remain constant(which are not significantly related to the site class parameters), will influence the cost of a structure.

Because based on this, I may want to decide in proposing my clients with either detailed information on Site Class or some rough interpretation based on limited data. Obviously more detailed information would cost more to me, and the client. Therefore, there is a need for me understand the difference in cost it would bring ultimately during the construction phase so that it would sound a justifiable expenditure during the preliminary stages.

If someone has some case studies, that would be most helpful too!
Thank you very much!
 
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The economics depend on the type of structure and its location. For instance, I performed a geotechnical evaluation for a parking structure in southern Michigan. The lower level had tall, unbraced columns. Therefore, in a seismic event, the moment transferred to the foundation was very large and affected the design significantly.
 
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