Each year the Vancouver School Board requires all schools to participate in a drill simulating an earthquake. One Douglas parent recently wrote a report detailing observations of the recent BIG ONE earthquake drill.
Monday May 28, 7pm - Dr. Carlos Ventura, UBC Earthquake Engineering Research
Noted expert Dr. Carlos Ventura will present a talk "Learning from Earthquakes to Prepare for Earthquakes" at the Kits Community Centre at 7pm, Monday 28 May. If you plan to attend, please call the centre in advance to register for this free seminar. (604) 257-6976.
April 11, 2006 - Dismayed by the slow pace of seismic upgrades and replacements and apparent lack of political will do increase the tempo, Families for School Seismic Safety started this week an email campaign aimed at school board trustees, the premier and Education minister of BC, and provincial and federal public safety ministers and opposition critics.
FSS put together two messages for parents who want to get involved in raising awareness of this important safety issue:
Douglas PAC encourages parents to read these materials and develop an awareness of the issue. Our main school is one of the so-called fast track 80 schools in the province that will be upgraded, or more likely demolished and completely rebuilt.
The Vancouver School District operates 109 elementary and secondary schools, many of which were built between 50 and 100 years ago, long before building codes in Canada were enhanced to take into account B.C.'s earthquake risk profile.
Of these schools the vast majority (99, plus those done or underway) require either significant structural seismic upgrades or complete replacement. As construction costs increase, seismic upgrades frequently become cost-prohibitive and it is expected that dozens of Vancouver schools will in fact be rebuilt, rather than reinforced.
Douglas Elementary is in the top third of the priority list for seismic risk mitigation; Douglas Annex is in the bottom third of the priority list. (Vancouver School Board - Seismic Information by School]
A 2004 assessment of Douglas Elementary estimated the seismic risk upgrade costs at over $5 million dollars; putting that number in perspective, a similar assessment of Vancouver Technical Secondary estimated upgrade costs of over $7 million dollars. That project, in 2007 now nearing completion, has actual costs of over $35 million dollars to date.
Increased cost of construction materials and labour in this province, plus experience with the few seismic risk projects that have gone ahead to date, has in part steered the Ministry and School District towards a formula where schools will generally be replaced, rather than upgraded, if upgrade costs approach 70% of the cost of building new.
At this time, it is expected that Douglas Elementary is a candidate for complete replacement, however no firm decision has yet been announced by the School District nor approved by the Minister.
There are pros and cons to either option; upgrading in-place creates significant disruptions during the school year, but allows the heritage aspect of schools to be preserved. School replacement changes forever the character of the buildings, but provides the safest possible structure for our children, without significantly disrupting school activities.
The PAC is officially neutral on the choices at this time, but will seek a consensus from the parent community and express that viewpoint officially to the school board.
Parents have in the past become very involved in decisions that affect the buildings or properties which make up our schools. In 2005/2006 the issue of the Telus Walk In Closet attracted an outpouring of parent interest and concern.
Your PAC believes that parents will be even more interested in the seismic risk issue and the potential impact and outcomes of any decisions made by the School District on our behalf. To assist parents in advocating for the best possible decisions, your PAC is working to help inform all parents on the issues, and provide a forum for voicing opinions directly to the school district and Ministry of Education.
Information: Get informed by visiting this information centre and these key sites:
Express Opinions: Watch this space for news on meetings, how to write the school trustees, Ministry of Education, and provincial members of the legislature.
Earthquake-related damage, injury, and fatalities are related to either non-structural (items within the school such as shelving, light fixtures and the like) damage or structural (the building itself) damage due to seismic motion. The Vancouver School Board has taken steps to mitigate some risk of non-structural damage, however the majority of our schools still pose risk of significant structural damage or even collapse should our region experience a major earthquake.
Scientists inform us that such an event is a matter of when, not if.
Many school buildings in Vancouver were constructed near the turn of the last century out of unreinforced masonry. This brick construction method, common during the pre-seismic building code era, is unfortunately about the worst construction practice when it comes to ensuring the building envelope will remain intact during a significant seismic event.
These photos give an indication of the damage suffered by unreinforced masonry in school buildings constructed in roughly the same era in Washington State, built in a similar manner to ours.
1949 earthquake, Washington State. Gables on a number of unreinforced masonry school buildings collapsed; fatalities recorded.
Gymnasium roof collapse