Mines-led earthquake building test wins ASCE Normal Medal

Earthquake resiliency testing of a full-scale 10-story mass timber building led by a Colorado School of Mines professor has been honored with the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Normal Medal. 

The highest and oldest technical honor granted by ASCE, the medal recognizes a research or practical paper that makes a definitive contribution to engineering science. 

The lead author of the winning paper, “Shake-Table Testing of a Full-Scale 10-Story Resilient Mass Timber Building,” published in the Journal of Structural Engineering in October 2024, was Shiling Pei, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Mines. 

In the paper, researchers provided a summary of the design, construction, testing and primary results of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) TallWood project, a three-year research effort in which academic and industry partners collaborated on the design, construction and testing of a full-scale 10-story mass timber building at the world’s largest outdoor shake table facility, located at the University of California, San Diego.  

The building featured a resilient mass timber rocking wall lateral system and gravity connection details designed to remain damage-free under design level earthquakes as well as innovative nonstructural systems to tolerate moderate building drifts without significant damage. A total of 88 earthquake tests were conducted, including several at the maximum considered earthquake intensity for the building’s design location.  

“I am deeply honored that ASCE has recognized this work with the Norman Medal. It is incredibly rewarding to see this research trigger fundamental changes to seismic codes, introducing new lateral system options for building design in high-seismic regions," Pei said. "For the first time in history, a wood-based lateral system will be codified in the U.S. for buildings over 65 feet by 2028. I am eager to see the rise of resilient, sustainable tall wood construction, and to watch this technology make communities in earthquake-prone regions safer and more prosperous.” 

Co-authors on the paper were Keri Ryan of the University of Nevada Reno; Jeffrey Berman of the University of Washington; John W. van de Lindt of Colorado State University; Steven Pryor of Simpson Strong-Tie Co.; Sarah Wichman and Reid Zimmerman of KPFF Consulting Engineers; Tara Hutchinson of UC-San Diego; and James Dolan of Washington State University. Mines graduate students Da Huang and Aleesha Busch were also co-authors on the paper, along with UC San Diego graduate student Shokrullah Sorosh and University of Nevada-Reno graduate students William Roser, Sir Lathan Wynn and Yi-en Ji. 

To read the full paper, “Shake-Table Testing of a Full-Scale 10-Story Resilient Mass Timber Building,” visit the ASCE website.