The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	The collapse of the Cypress Viaduct during the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989
Author:	Eid, Mohamed M.
View Online:	njit-etd1992-071 (xiv, 110 pages ~ 2.4 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Civil Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Saadeghvaziri, M. Ala (Committee chair) Spillers, William R. (Committee member)
Date:	1992-10
Keywords:	Cypress Street Viaduct (Oakland, Calif.) Elevated highways -- California -- Oakland -- Earthquake effects Viaducts -- California -- Oakland -- Earthquake effects Earthquakes -- California -- Loma Prieta, October 17, 1989 Structural failures -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Oakland (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Earthquake effects
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	The Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989 in California was one of the most disastrous earthquakes in U.S history. It caused damage to commercial, residential, and industrial structures, transportation and utilities. This study includes investigations about the Cypress Viaduct collapse re¬ported by: California Governor's Board of Inquiry [4]. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NEL) W. 3The Author. Investigators in the first report concluded that the collapse was due to horizontal ground motion. In the second one, it was due to the vertical ground motion. In the author's investigation, a detailed static and dynamic analyses are performed to determine the cause of the failure. Static analyses are performed to determine the moment and shear capacities of the critical sections. Also to predict the mode and sequence of failure. Dynamic analyses are performed employing the finite element software ADINA to investigate the effect of ground motion on the Viaduct.