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Design and Construction of Breakaway Walls

Jeffrey Havelin, P.E.


Course Outline

This one-hour course is based on the FEMA construction guidelines for "breakaway" walls used below Elevated Coastal Buildings.

In Coastal High Hazard Areas (Zones V, VE, and V1-30), the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations require that communities participating in the program adopt floodplain management ordinances or laws requiring that all new and substantially improved buildings be elevated to or above the base flood elevation (BFE) on foundations consisting of piles, posts, piers, or columns.

These open foundations must be designed to allow waves and water moving at high velocity to flow beneath the building. Local ordinances or laws adopted by participating communities must further require that the area below the lowest floor of the elevated building be left free of obstructions. Walls or other obstructions below the elevated building can significantly increase the potential for flood damage to the elevated building by increasing the surface area subject to wave impact and velocity flow during a coastal storm.

Although obstructions are prohibited, the area below the lowest floor of an elevated building in a Coastal High Hazard Area may be enclosed with open wood latticework, insect screening, or nonsupporting "breakaway" walls. However, each of these must be designed and constructed to collapse under wind and water loads without causing collapse, displacement, or other structural damage to the elevated portion of the building or supporting foundation system. In addition, like all other construction in the Special Flood Hazard Area, any enclosure below the lowest floor of an elevated building must be built with flood-resistant materials and with methods and practices that minimize flood damage. Furthermore, the area below the lowest floor of the elevated building may be used only for parking, building access, or storage.

This course is based entirely on the Technical Bulletin (9-99) as published by the FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, publication number FIA-TB-9.

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


Learning Objective

This course will specifically review guidelines for Break-away walls used below Elevated Coastal Buildings, and will cover the following topics:


Intended Audience

This course would be very informative for engineers or architects who are involved with the construction industry.

Course Content

This course is based entirely on the Technical Bulletin (9-99) "Design and Construction of Breakaway Walls" as published by the FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, publication number FIA-TB-9.

The link to the course materials is as follows:

Design and Construction of Breakaway Walls (FEMA Technical Bulletin (9-99) publication number FIA-TB-9)


Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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.