The
world's premiere risk consulting engineering company delivers
services for buildings and facilities for projects ranging
from small studies to multimillion dollar projects.
Over the past 20+ years, we have provided the above services
for thousands of clients throughout the world, including
major corporations, more than 100 utilities, local and state
government agencies and several US Federal government installations.
Too often companies rely on insurance as the primary and
sometimes only form of managing the risk posed by earthquakes,
severe storms, fires and other disasters. Prudent action
calls for alternative methods of risk management, such as
facility improvement programs that are specifically designed
to protect life safety and to mitigate the greatest sources
of loss.
We work closely with each client to evaluate all reasonable
alternatives prior to selecting a final solution. Our objective
is to find the most cost-effective solution, with minimal
impact to ongoing operations. Companies and organizations
often face conflicting demands, as output or services must
be continuous, yet safety and environmental standards cannot
be compromised. These goals must often be also achieved under
tight financial constraints.
International Experts in Natural
and Manmade Hazard Mitigation
The firm has a unique ability because
of its noted onsiteinvestigations of more than 90
major disasters throughout the world since 1981. Following
each event, ABS Consulting (into which EQE International
Inc. was merged), dispatches teams to the disaster
site to observe the damage and understand root causes.
This gives our engineers a thorough understanding of
vulnerable construction types and those that are effective
in minimizing damage. Our professional staff is involved
with several national organizations and committees
devoted to researching and applying the latest state-of-the-art
techniques to identify, assess and reduce the risk
from natural and manmade hazards.
Natural Hazards (Earthquake and Wind)
On an annualized basis, earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes and other severe wind phenomena impact more people and destroy more property than any other natural disasters in the United States.
ABS has performed a number of risk assessment, risk reduction, and facility upgrade projects involving consideration of extreme wind forces and earthquakes. Projects have ranged from preliminary reviews of facilities for the purpose of assessing wind exposure, to performing detailed structural analysis and preparing construction documents to address design wind forces.
Wind damage is often a small percentage of the total damage to a facility following a storm (affecting a property's cladding, roofing or facade), yet can result in a major loss of critical assets, inventories, or raw materials. Such losses can have a major impact, both in the short- and long-term, on the operation of a business or public agency.
We have developed the Wind Risk Reduction Program (WRRP), a systematic and cost-effective approach for managing risks from windstorms through: hazard identification, facility and operations vulnerability reviews, analysis, and risk mitigation and the Earthquake Risk Reduction Program (ERRP) to mitigate earthquake risks.
ABS has successfully applied the WRRP and EERP methodologies to identify and mitigate extreme risks for clients worldwide.
Manmade Hazards (Terrorism and Blast)
ABS Consulting is experienced in the response of buildings, structures, and equipment to blast loadings. Other severe loading situations, such as pressures from extreme winds, blast generated debris and missile impacts, and wind-borne missile collisions, have also been investigated. These evaluations often utilize both computer modeling and physical modeling of non-linear structural systems under transient loading conditions.
After evaluating a facility for blast loading, we can provide a number of ways to reduce the threat to a site. These may include structural design of special barriers to provide a greater separation distance from a potential blast source to a facility; design and implementation of special window film and framing to reduce the potential for glass shattering; and enhancing the structural support systems of a building to prevent its collapse from blast forces.
Clients/Projects
We have successfully analyzed and upgraded thousands of
structures from low to high rise and equipment systems.
Structures range from small, un-reinforced masonry buildings
to multi-story, steel-frame high rises. We have upgraded
historical buildings that are on the National Register and
applied innovative seismic retrofit techniques, such as base-isolation
and energy-dissipating systems. With our extensive experience,
we are able to develop rehabilitation programs that allow
buildings to remain in use during construction, and preserve
the existing architectural finishes and details when necessary.
The
world's premiere risk consulting engineering company delivers
services for buildings and facilities for projects ranging
from small studies to multimillion dollar projects.
Over the past 20+ years, we have provided the above services
for thousands of clients throughout the world, including
major corporations, more than 100 utilities, local and state
government agencies and several US Federal government installations.
