UC Berkeley Seeks $700 Million for Seismic Work

Reexamining the seismic safety of UC Berkeley, university officials announced Friday that the campus needs $700 million more to make sure its stately buildings would survive a major earthquake.

The oldest University of California campus has spent about $250 million to shore up its historic brick and stone buildings after they were tagged for reinforcement in the late 1970s.

But a new engineering report found that 57 other buildings--about 27% of the Berkeley campus’ usable space--need some corrective work.

Engineers rated 50 buildings as “poor” and seven others as “very poor,” meaning they probably would suffer extensive structural damage in a major quake. The seven worst buildings have the potential of collapse or other problems that could represent “high life hazards,” the report concluded.

“We are no less safe than we were yesterday,” said UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl. “But we know more about earthquakes than we used to, and the [building] codes have changed.”

Berdahl said no buildings are slated for immediate closure. Be he unveiled a 10-point plan to strengthen the campus perched on the edge of the Hayward fault, considered the most active of the faults riddling the San Francisco Bay Area.

Aside from determining if any buildings need to be closed, Berdahl’s plan focuses on seeking money from the federal and state governments, as well as private benefactors, for the repairs.

Private donors will be asked to contribute money to strengthen California Memorial Stadium and other structures for which it might not be appropriate to use taxpayer dollars for the renovation, the chancellor said.

“We need to make certain,” Berdahl said, “that this university can exist on the Hayward fault without being destroyed.”