47.5 MB - The Whole Building Design Guide

Damage to other components of buildings is described below,including saturation of materials (Section 2.2.2.3), utility serviceequipment (Section 2.2.2.4), and contents (Section 2.2.2.5).Depth: The hydrostatic load or pressure against a wall or foundationis directly related to the depth of water (refer to Figure2-9). Standard stud and siding, or unreinforced brick veneerwalls, may collapse under hydrostatic loads associated with relativelyshallow water. Reinforced masonry walls perform betterthan unreinforced masonry walls (see Figure 2-14), althoughan engineering analysis is required to determine performance.Walls and floors of below-grade areas (basements) are particularlysusceptible to damage by hydrostatic pressure. When soilsare saturated, pressures against below-grade walls are a functionof the total depth of water, including the depth below-grade andthe weight of the saturated soils.Figure 2-14:Interior unreinforcedmasonry walls of the PortSulphur High School inLouisiana were damagedby hydrostatic loadsassociated with HurricaneKatrina’s storm surge(2005).2-44 MAKING CRITICAL FACILITIES SAFE FROM Flooding