Your earthquake rations are stocked up and your house is bolted, right? Okay, maybe not.
But we like to assume that all public buildings are as earthquake-proof as they can be, or perhaps that's one of the thousand-and-two little fibs we tell ourselves when occasionally we wonder how things will shake down in the Big One.
The unsafe ones are getting safer, though - as money permits: The city of Pasadena has been doing massive earthquake-reinforcement work on its gorgeous old Mission-style City Hall, where tractors are driving through the basement as you read this. The construction firm doing the work (Clark) has posted some nifty photo galleries of the foundation work being done in the steel-framed building ...
Give it a look. It's a neat peek at the bones of an beautifully epic old public space:
The Pasadena City Hall Seismic Upgrade & Rehabilitation Project is located in the center of Pasadena on Garfield Boulevard. The project consists of structural upgrades including the installation of a base isolation system that will permit the building to move during a seismic event, new shear walls, and a "moat" to isolate the perimeter as well as a complete rehabilitation of the historic interior and exterior components of the building. The mechanical and electrical systems will be replaced as part of the rehabilitation.
