As a result of an increased in-house focus on research and technology development following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, MHP specializes in design and analysis of blast resistant buildings and specialty structures. Since 1996, blast mitigation and progressive collapse analysis have been two of the concentrated fields in which MHP has provided detailed support to design teams throughout the United States. Over the years, MHP has been responsible for the design of high profile structures including strategically sensitive Federal Government, Military and Aviation facilities needing to satisfy a diverse set of multi-hazard design criteria, including deliberate or accidental explosions, mitigation of progressive collapse, strong seismic ground motion, and severe wind loading.
Led by David Houghton and Jesse Karns, the MHP blast mitigation division prides itself on bringing highly-qualified and experienced structural engineers to the blast design team. Under this leadership, MHP has become nationally recognized for its expertise in this specialized field as a team of practicing structural engineers capable of bringing a practical design approach to the table, resulting in safe, innovative and economical buildings equal to today’s new challenges. MHP’s familiarity with GSA, DoD, FAA, FEMA and ATC disaster and anti-terrorism progressive collapse guidelines saves clients time and effort during the assessment, design and construction process.
At MHP, internal research efforts are powered by some of the most sophisticated analytical tools available today. Wide use of programs such as LS-DYNA, NISAII, GID, SAP2000 Non-linear, ETABS Non-linear and AtBlast working in the Unix environment provides MHP’s engineers the ability to complete complex modeling of building behavior, addressing both overall structural systems and complex sub-systems. At the forefront of developing applications for use of these tools, MHP principals are routinely invited to present papers at the national level for numerous agencies and associations focused on providing safe buildings through proactive design solutions. MHP continues to distinguish itself among leaders in the blast mitigation industry through research, experience and the proven ability to provide effective, reliable and cost-efficient structural systems that rigorously satisfy anti-terrorism bomb blast and progressive collapse design criteria.
RICHMOND VIRGINIA FEDERAL COURTHOUSE
Richmond, Virginia
New Facility
CLIENT
U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
SidePlate Systems, Inc.
ARCHITECT
Heery-HLM Design & Robert A.M. Stern Architects
CONSTRUCTION COSTS
$70 million
PROJECT STATUS
Completion expected 2008
STRUCTURE SPECIFICS
MHP was contracted to act as progressive collapse consultant in construction of an 8-story Federal Court House, including a 200 ft. long football-shaped atrium which spanned the entire 8-stories of the structure.
CHALLENGES AND NEEDS
The client’s need for a building satisfying significant multi-hazard design criteria, including natural disasters such as earthquake and extreme wind, and terrorist acts such as direct bomb blast attack and progressive collapse mitigation, required an innovative approach. The curved and skewed framing requirements accommodated the creative functional design of the courthouse building and the construction of the108-ft. tall atrium. The cost of the steel frame structure was optimized by being able to use a single steel frame connection system for multi-hazard design applications.
SCOPE OF SERVICE
MHP’s collective expertise guided the design and construction of the 340,000 square foot icon steel frame building’s lateral and blast resistant framing system. A creative solution was required for the highly irregular footprint of the building, including the featured atrium. As the blast consultant for the project, MHP embraced the challenges that the building design presented and offered a solution that exceeded the needs and expectations of the client.
