47.5 MB - The Whole Building Design Guide

Third District Fire Station in New Orleans is a newer one-story,structural steel-framed building with brick veneer walls, metalfascia panels, steel roof deck, rigid plastic foam roof insulation,and metal roof panels. The estimated maximum wind speed atthis location during Hurricane Katrina was significantly lowerthan the design wind speed. Nevertheless, a large portion of themetal roof covering was blown off the apparatus bay (see Figure4-42). In some areas, the architectural metal wall panels withstanding seams covered by snap-on battens were still in place,but the batten covers had broken away. In other areas, the battencovers were still attached, but they had lifted—it appeared that fatiguecracks occurred along the standing seams (see Figure 4-43).Battens like these are frequently susceptible to blow-off, which allowswater infiltration and may lead to panel blow-off. Both thebattens and separated panels may become dangerous wind-bornedebris. This station was occupied at the time of the storm, butbecause of the extensive damage to the interior, apparatus baydoors, and the equipment, it could not be used and was consequentlyevacuated.Figure 4-42:Metal roof and wallpanels peeled off the ThirdDistrict Fire Station in NewOrleans4-58 OBSERVATIONS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL FACILITIES