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The major manufacturers of seismic isolation bearings make proprietary bearings that have their own unique attributes, properties, capacities, and manufacturing materials and processes. There are no construction industry standards for the manufacture of seismic isolation bearings. Consequently, when engineers specify a generic isolation bearing design without proven industry manufacturing standards, there is a serious danger to both seismic safety and the construction schedule. The contractor usually selects the bearing fabricator based only on low price, and the generic bearings often fail the specified testing and independent engineering reviews that are required by building codes. Construction delays caused by inadequate bearing specifications and standards have resulted in substantial construction claims. Moreover, specifying generic bearing properties and installation details usually results in the highest seismic shear forces and the highest total construction cost.
For important applications, the isolation bearing manufacturer is usually selected early in the design process. Manufacturers’ proposals are evaluated for the technical merits of their products, testing verification of properties and capacities, experience and qualifications, product prices, and total construction costs. The objective of this early selection process is to achieve the best cost-benefit value for the application. All team members benefit from the early selection of the seismic isolation system and supplier. Early in the design, the bearing properties with guaranteed prices are fully established, supported by prototype testing which is completed early in the design, months before the construction starts. Designing cost-efficient structures and installation details specific to the selected bearings reduces total construction costs. Design and construction reliability is improved by having seismic isolation engineering experts on the project design team.
EPS's four principal engineers, each have over 20 years of experience specializing in the field of seismic isolation. EPS’s engineering qualifications, capabilities, and implementation experience in the field of seismic isolation far exceeds the seismic isolation capabilities and experience available from any other engineering or manufacturing company, worldwide. Our customers benefit from the cost-effective design and implementation of the complete isolation solution, which provides the specified level of seismic performance at the lowest construction cost.
In 1991, the San Francisco Federal Court was the largest seismic isolation construction project ever undertaken worldwide. The contract for the design and supply of 267 large seismic isolation bearings bearing was awarded to EPS based on a formal U.S. Government competitive selection process. The competitive selection process was based on product technical merit, experience, and the manufacturing capabilities to meet the schedule. After selection, EPS engineers were added to the design team as seismic isolation engineering experts, the bearing designs were finalized, and prototype manufacture and testing were 100% complete before the construction bid. In the 20 years since, a careful review of technical performance supported by comprehensive testing, engineering qualifications, manufacturing capabilities, bearing prices, and total construction cost, has consistently resulted in EPS as the preferred manufacturer.
U.S. Federal and State procurement laws permit construction documents for public projects to specify propriety products from a sole source supplier, when a competitive selection process has been used. EPS always welcomes competitive evaluations of products, seismic performance, and prices from qualified isolation system suppliers early in the facility design. We have a long list of very satisfied government and private clients that selected EPS products and engineering experts early in the design process. |
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