Professor Studies How to Reduce Building Damage in Hurricanes

East Coast residents have been stocking up on plywood as they prepare their homes for the possible arrival of Hurricane Isabel. Dan Dolan, professor of civil and environmental engineering, is working on a National Institute of Standards and Technology grant to reduce losses to low-rise construction during hurricanes.  Such buildings under seven stories make up 85 percent of the structures in the U.S.  Working with researchers from Clemson University, Johns Hopkins University, and Virginia Tech, Dolan works to model in real time the forces a low-rise structure experiences from hurricane-force winds. Until recently, researchers haven’t been able to record precisely the varied wind speeds and wind turbulence that a building experiences in a gust. Dolan hopes the work will eventually lead to improved structural performance of buildings without driving building costs significantly higher. Dolan is also involved in writing and updating design and building codes in the U.S.  For information, contact Dolan at 509.335.7849 or e-mail: jddolan@wsu.edu.