Rack Isolation System Wins Earthquake Award

June 1, 2008
NORTH EAST, Pa.-RIDG-U-RAK's patented Seismic Base Isolation System was awarded first place honors for "Excellence for Innovation" in the earthquake mitigation

NORTH EAST, Pa.-RIDG-U-RAK's patented Seismic Base Isolation System was awarded first place honors for "Excellence for Innovation" in the earthquake mitigation category at the 2008 National Earthquake Conference. The Seismic Base Isolator is a product that attaches to the base of storage rack upright frames and is then anchored to the floor. During an earthquake, the base isolator absorbs much of the seismic energy before it gets to the rack structure itself. This results in a huge reduction (85%) in the seismic forces the rack structure must resist, which concludes in little to no rack damage or product shedding during even the most severe earthquakes.

"From our testing we determined that our base isolation system can dissipate 85% of the seismic energy exerted on a storage rack system during an earthquake," says James Courtwright, RIDG-U-RAK's chief project engineer.

Development of the RIDG-U-RAK Seismic Base Isolation System included more than 100 full scale triaxial shake table tests preformed at the Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory located at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

RIDG-U-RAK developed this system in accordance with performance levels outlined in FEMA 460 Seismic Considerations for Steel Racks Located in Areas Accessible to the Public. These guidelines are for facilities using steel rack systems in retail environments where public safety is a very real concern during a seismic event.