Recommended Residential Construction For Coastal Areas Building On Strong And Safe Foundations Fema P 550 Second Edition

Past storms such as Hurricanes Andrew, Hugo, Charley, Katrina, and Rita, and recent events such as Hurricane Ike continue to show the vulnerability of our “built environment”. While good design and construction cannot totally eliminate risk, every storm has shown that sound design and construction can significantly reduce the risk to life and damage to property. With that in mind, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed this manual to help the community of homebuilders, contractors, and local engineering professionals in rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricanes, and designing and building safer and less vulnerable new homes. The intent of the manual is to provide homebuilders, contractors, and engineering professionals with a series of recommended foundation designs that will help create safer and stronger buildings in coastal areas. The designs are intended to help support rebuilding efforts after coastal areas have been damaged by floods, high winds, or other natural hazards. The foundations may differ somewhat from traditional construction techniques; however, they represent what are considered to be some of the better approaches to constructing strong and safe foundations in hazardous coastal areas. The objectives used to guide the development of this manual are: To provide residential foundation designs that will require minimal engineering oversight; To provide foundation designs that are flexible enough to accommodate many of the homes identified in A Pattern Book for Gulf Coast Neighborhoods prepared for the Mississippi Governor's Rebuilding Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal; To utilize "model" layouts so that many homes can be constructed without significant additional engineering efforts. The focus of this document is on the foundations of residential buildings. The assumption is that those who are designing and building new homes will be responsible for ensuring that the building itself is designed according to the latest building code (International Building Code®, International Residential Code®, and FEMA guidance) and any local requirements. The user of this manual is directed to other publications that also address disaster-resistant construction. Although the foundation designs are geared to the coastal environment subject to storm surge, waves, floating debris, and high winds, several are suitable for supporting homes on sites protected by levees and floodwalls or in riverine areas subjected to high-velocity flows. Design professionals can be contacted to ensure the foundation designs provided in this manual are suitable for specific sites. This edition of FEMA 550 introduces the Case H foundation, which is an open/deep foundation developed for use in coastal high hazard areas (V zones). It is also appropriate to use the Case H foundation in Coastal A and non-coastal A zones. Case H foundations incorporate elevated reinforced concrete beams that provide three important benefits. One, the elevated beams work in conjunction with the reinforced concrete columns and grade beams to produce a structural frame that is more efficient at resisting lateral loads than the grade beams and cantilevered columns used in other FEMA 550 open foundations. The increased efficiency allows foundations to be constructed with smaller columns that are less exposed to flood forces. The second benefit is that the elevated reinforced concrete beams provide a continuous foundation that can support many homes constructed to prescriptive designs from codes and standards such as the IRC, the American Forest and Paper Association's Wood Frame Construction Manual for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (WFCM), and the International Code Council's Standard for Residential Construction in High Wind Regions (ICC-600). The third benefit that Case H foundations provide is the ability to support relatively narrow homes. It is anticipated that Case H foundations can be used for several styles of modular homes.

FULL COLOR publication. The purpose of this design manual is to provide recommended foundation designs and guidance for rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricanes in coastal areas. In addition, the manual is intended to provide guidance in designing and building safer and less vulnerable homes to reduce the risk to life and property. The intent of the manual is to provide homebuilders, contractors, and engineering professionals with a series of recommended foundation designs that will help create safer and stronger buildings in coastal areas. The designs are intended to help support rebuilding efforts after coastal areas have been damaged by floods, high winds, or other natural hazards. The foundations may differ somewhat from traditional construction techniques; however, they represent what are considered to be some of the better approaches to constructing strong and safe foundations in hazardous coastal areas. The objectives used to guide the development of this manual are: To provide residential foundation designs that will require minimal engineering oversight; To provide foundation designs that are flexible enough to accommodate many of the homes identified in A Pattern Book for Gulf Coast Neighborhoods prepared for the Mississippi Governor's Rebuilding Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal; To utilize "model" layouts so that many homes can be constructed without significant additional engineering efforts. The focus of this document is on the foundations of residential buildings. The assumption is that those who are designing and building new homes will be responsible for ensuring that the building itself is designed according to the latest building code (International Building Code(r) [IBC(r)], International Residential Code(r) [IRC(r)], and FEMA guidance) and any local requi

This book systematizes the concepts of contemporary coastal zone management and suggests possible structural and non-structural management tools for decision-making processes. Some successful adaptation measures and case studies on oceanic processes and coastal protection are discussed. High-frequency communications in coastal and marine environments are also addressed.All chapters contribute relevant information and useful content to scientists and other readers interested or concerned about the lack of adequate management actions and the installation of appropriate protections or their ineffectiveness in containing coastal vulnerabilities and risks.

Past storms have shown that sound design and construction can significantly reduce the loss of life and damage to property. FEMA has developed this design manual with the purpose to provide the community of homebuilders, contractors and local engineering professionals with recommended foundation designs and guidance for rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast.

The 2011 Coastal Construction Manual, Fourth Edition (FEMA P-55), is a two-volume publication that provides a comprehensive approach to planning, siting, designing, constructing, and maintaining homes in the coastal environment. Volume I of the Coastal Construction Manual provides information about hazard identification, siting decisions, regulatory requirements, economic implications, and risk management. The primary audience for Volume I is design professionals, officials, and those involved in the decision-making process. Volume II contains in-depth descriptions of design, construction, and maintenance practices that, when followed, will increase the durability of residential buildings in the harsh coastal environment and reduce economic losses associated with coastal natural disasters. The primary audience for Volume II is the design professional who is familiar with building codes and standards and has a basic understanding of engineering principles. Volume II is not a standalone reference for designing homes in the coastal environment. The designer should have access to and be familiar with the building codes and standards that are discussed in Volume II and listed in the reference section at the end of each chapter. The designer should also have access to the building codes and standards that have been adopted by the local jurisdiction if they differ from the standards and codes that are cited in Volume II. If the local jurisdiction having authority has not adopted a building code, the most recent code should be used. Engineering judgment is sometimes necessary, but designers should not make decisions that will result in a design that does not meet locally adopted building codes. The topics that are covered in Volume II are as follows: Chapter 7 - Introduction to the design process, minimum design requirements, losses from natural hazards in coastal areas, cost and insurance implications of design and construction decisions, sustainable design, and inspections; Chapter 8 - Site-specific loads, including from snow, flooding, tsunamis, high winds, tornadoes, seismic events, and combinations of loads. Example problems are provided to illustrate the application of design load provisions of ASCE 7-10, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures; Chapter 9 - Load paths, structural connections, structural failure modes, breakaway walls, building materials, and appurtenances; Chapter 10 - Foundations, including design criteria, requirements and recommendations, style selection (e.g., open, closed), pile capacity in soil, and installation; Chapter 11 - Building envelope, including floors in elevated buildings, exterior doors, windows and skylights, non-loading-bearing walls, exterior wall coverings, soffits, roof systems, and attic vents. Chapter 12 - Installing mechanical equipment and utilities; Chapter 13 - Construction, including the foundation, structural frame, and building envelope. Common construction mistakes, material selection and durability, and techniques for improving resistance to decay and corrosion are also discussed; Chapter 14 - Maintenance of new and existing buildings, including preventing damage from corrosion, moisture, weathering, and termites; building elements that require frequent maintenance; and hazard-specific maintenance techniques; Chapter 15 - Evaluating existing buildings for the need for and feasibility of retrofitting for wildfire, seismic, flood, and wind hazards and implementing the retrofitting. Wind retrofit packages that can be implemented during routine maintenance are also discussed (e.g., replacing roof shingles.