ABOUT

 

The planned Electric Utility Operation Center is 108,000-square-foot operations building in Tualatin, planned for completion in 2021. The owner, Portland General Electric (PGE), hired KPFF Consulting Engineers to design a building that can withstand a predicted magnitude-9.0 earthquake off the Oregon coast.

 

KPFF used SP3-Design (now SP3-Advanced) to choose a base-isolation to reduce floor accelerations. This resiliently designed building is expected to survive a large earthquake and reduce expected losses down to 1% of construction costs. This will allow the utility to run the electrical grid shortly following such an event, with little disruption.