WestCon Tribune

September 1998

September Speaker

THE GEOTECHNICAL EFFECTS OF "EL NINO"

Presented by AVRAM NINYO NINYO and MOORE

Geotechnical and Environmental Sciences Consultants.

El Nino", and the damage caused by this weather system, havereceived great publicity, especially in this past year.

The August 1998issue of The Construction Specifier magazine statesthat virtually every industry and community in the United States has been affected by some kind of extreme orunusual weather from El Nino and the strange effects it has caused. Andthere are still devastating weather events occurring - such as the currenthurricanes happening on the East Coast.*

Forthe September meeting Westcon is pleased to have Avram Ninyo presenting the"Geotechnical Effects of El Nino". Mr. Ninyo is the Principal Geotechnical Engineer with Ninyo and MooreGeotechnical and Environmental Sciences Consultants.

Ninyo and Moore was established in 1986 and has now grown to more than one hundred andfifty employees in the western United States, including offices in Oakland,San Diego, Irvine, Los Angeles, Ontario, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City andTempe.

Thepresentation and discussion will draw from Mr. Ninyo's vast experience evaluating distressed properties and structures, and willprovide an overview of the geotechnical concerns and design considerationsassociated with heavy rainfall.

The topics coveredwill include mudslides, landslides and debris flows, sinkholes, flooding, soil expansion andsettlement from water infiltration, and sulfate attack. Geotechnicalpractices for investigation of these concerns, and mitigation and repairtechniques from a geotechnical perspective, will also be discussed.

*The August issue of The ConstructionSpecifier magazine has a pertinent and in-depth articleworth reading entitled "The Surprises of El Nino".

WHAT IS "EL NINO"?

El Nino is a result of changes in atmospheric pressures, shifts in tradewinds and the relationship of the ocean to the air which usually has an impact of the weather around theglobe. This series of complex events is also known as ENSO, or ElNino/Southern Oscillation which is when the air pressure in the westernSouth Pacific is high and pressure in the eastern South Pacific is low, or vice versa.

Normally the pressure in the east is higher than the pressure in the westand causes trade winds to blow from the east to west across the equatorialPacific. As this happens, the winds push warm water ahead ofthem, pumping heat and moisture into the air and creating storms and rainshowers in Australia and parts of Asia.

However, every few years the pressures shift, causing trade winds toreverse or even stop entirely. This causes warm water heading west toward Asia to work its way back toward South America. For North America, thistends to modify jet stream patterns, bringing on storms to California andmild winters to the Northeast.

The effects of El Nino this year have caused significant damage, disruptionof schedules and financial loss for commercial builders. According tosources quoted in the August 1998 Construction Specifier,year to date sales are down 22 percent for Exterior Materials and 1997 sawa 25 percent drop.

Improved mitigation efforts have received credit for keeping insurance losses down. Past disasters are nowbeing applied to mitigate current situations and to improve conditions tohelp thwart new storm devastation.

The Construction Specifier article sites Montezuma,Georgia as an example where the downtown commercial district was devastated by flooding. Thecity aggressively pursued a flood deterrence program, improved their leveesystem and bought out houses encroaching on the flood plain. They appliedfor an economic development grant, revitalized the downtown and improved the drainage system, and when thecity suffered another flood of the same magnitude, they had almost nodamage.

Areas of concern in Texas are, excessive water swelling upbuilding foundations and cracking floors and walls and sidewalks moving uptwo or more inches.

SEPTEMBER BULLETIN BOARD

UPCOMING SPEAKERS:

OCTOBER

Donald V. Pearman, Westcon Member and primary expert in the wrongful deathlitigation resulting from the 1991 Oakland Fire, will give a slidepresentation covering the deaths on Charing Cross Road during that fire. Hewill also present dramatic slides of various other fires, illustrating significant fire issues. The topic of fire willbe timely for the October meeting as it will be the anniversary of theOakland fire storm and - an arsonist is currently at work in the OaklandHills.

NOVEMBER

We have preliminarily set up a meeting to be presented by Mr. Gary Hanson to share hisexperiences with Duratec in applications of lifting, leveling, subsealing,waterproofing and bondingwith urethane foam and helical piers. Theseprojects are represented in a number of projects Mr. Hanson hasparticipated in including condominiums, airplane parking ramps, and singlefamily housing.

OPEN HOUSE

Presented by University of California Forest Products Laboratory
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH 1998
1:00 - 4:00 PM
1301 South 46th Street, Richmond
Contact: Janice Montano, (510) 215-4222 or email: montano@nature.berkeley.edu
Directions are on their web page: www.ucfpl.ucop.edu

This open house will cover:

•The life of Termites in Woods
•Fighting Termites
•Baits for subterranean termites
•Termite Chemistry
•Treated wood products
•Books and other information on wood products durability
•Decay
•The "House Eating Fungus"
•New Web Pages and demonstrations

DEMONSTRATIVE EVIDENCE: THE EFFECTIVE USE OFEXHIBITS IN CONSTRUCTION DEFECT TRIALS

Tuesday, September 22, 1998
4:30 P.M. - 6:30 P.M.
Crosby, Heafey, Roach and May
1999 Harrison Street, 27th Floor, Oakland

COST:
ACBAMEMBERS - $30.00
NON-MEMBERS - $40.00

Westcon member Chris Nelson, from Technical Roof Services, Inc. and PaulLahadern, of Segwick, Detert, Moran and Arnold, will be presenting the sameprogram that was featured at the January Westcon meeting for the BarAssociation. This program will focus onthe benefits of using exhibits at trial. Mr. Nelson will use the 6 foottall, full scale models from the Montgomery Washington Tower Condominiumtrial and narrate slides outlining the various features of this design. Mr.Lahadern will explain how he utilized these exhibits and discuss their effectiveness. Results from interviewswith jurors, which focused on the value of these exhibits, will also bediscussed. To reserve your space, call (510) 893-7160 by Friday, September18, 1998

New Westcon Members

Westcon would like to welcome newmember,

RickVaccaro, of R.D. Vaccaro Construction

Mr. Vaccaro has over twenty-five years of hands on experienceincluding Design Build teams, evaluation and execution, procedures,proformances, safety and common standards of practice. His background alsoincludes being an expert witness and construction consulting.

REMINDER A CODE COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BE HELD BEFORE DINNER AT 6:30. ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO COME TO THE MEETING AND PARTICIPATE .