Coastal Buildings – Maintenance and Retrofits

Coastal Buildings – Maintenance and Retrofits

Course Outline

This three-hour online course covers in-depth descriptions of maintenance, repairs, additions and retrofits of coastal buildings. Methods to reduce damage from corrosion, moisture, weathering and termites are discussed along with building elements that require frequent maintenance. Methods which when followed will increase the durability of a building in harsh coastal environments and reduce economic losses associated with coastal natural disasters. The course discusses the retrofits that can be undertaken while performing routine maintenance. References for FEMA Technical Sheets, Bulletins, NFPA Standards, and Building Codes are also provided in reference sections of the text.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will have covered these topics:

Effects of environment, corrosion, moisture, weathering and termites;
Building elements, new and existing, that requires frequent maintenance;
Hazard-specific maintenance techniques for flooding, seismic and wind damage;
Retrofitting buildings for wildfire and seismic mitigation techniques;
Retrofitting buildings for flood mitigation techniques, including elevating and relocations;
Dry and wet flood proofing methods;
Multi hazard mitigation;
Benefits and disadvantages of levees and floodwalls;
High-wind mitigation techniques; and
Retrofit packages opportunities that can be implemented during routine maintenance.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for engineers, field inspectors, public officials, and planners.

Benefit to Attendees

The student will understand the damaging effects natural hazards have on coastal buildings and methods used to reduce them during normal building maintenance and repairs. Natural hazards corrosion, moisture, flooding, high winds, are discussed along with how they affect the durability of certain building elements. The student will learn which building retrofits could be performed during maintenance. Building elevating, floodwalls, levees and relocation when deemed necessary and their benefits and disadvantages are presented as alternatives to depending only on retrofitting the building.

Course Introduction

Over the past several decades the coastal population of the US has increased significantly. This has led to greater numbers of buildings at risk from coastal hazards including storm surges, wind, hurricanes, and El Nino events. Many of the buildings constructed today are larger and more expensive than those of the past. This course presents some of the methods for repairing, maintaining, and retrofitting buildings to increase durability.

Overall the course serves as a guide in methods for making buildings more durable in coastal areas and the natural hazards to protect against.

Course Content

The course is based on Chapters 14 and 15 of FEMA P-55 publication, “Coastal Construction Manual – Vol II”, (2011 Edition, 36 pages), PDF file. The course is also based on FEMA Technical Fact Sheets No. 9.1 and 9.2, “Repairs, Remodeling, Additions and Retrofitting – Flood” and “Repairs, Remodeling, Additions and Retrofitting – Wind”, (2009 Edition, 8 and 6 pages), PDF file.

Coastal Construction Manual – Vol II Chapter 14

Coastal Construction Manual – Vol II Chapter 15

Repairs, Remodeling, Additions and Retrofitting – Flood

Enhanced Oil Recovery-Carbon Dioxide Injection

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Course Summary

This course can serve as a guide in understanding the natural coastal processes for building protection. It should assist persons without experience in coastal engineering to understand and apply approaches unique to the coasts. It should also serve as reference in providing consultation and analysis for new and existing buildings in a constantly changing coastal environment. The recommended practices for repairs, additions and retrofits of new and existing building are described.

References

For additional technical information related to this subject, please refer to:

http://www.coastal.er.usgs.gov
Information on coastal and marine science, research projects by topics and location, publications and educational material for grade school to grad school.

http://www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov
Tide information around the US, sea level changes, algal blooms and publications.

Reference Books:

“Basic Wave Mechanics for Coastal and Ocean Engineers”, Robert M Sorensen (John Wiley & Son, 1993)

“Against the Tide”, Cornelia Dean (Columbia University Press, 1999)

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.