Working with structural engineering consultants Ove Arup and Partners and Cameron Taylor, CAR has been developing a method for estimating probable maximum losses for complex industrial facilities located in earthquake and windstorm areas.

Many ageing facilities face risks much higher than their original designers anticipated, and were constructed without today’s understanding of the performance of complex structural systems. Owners of such plants need specialist help in making assessments of the largest losses they might face during the expected lifetime of the plant from foreseeable natural hazards.

The CAR approach is based on a walkdown of the plant by a structural specialist, calculating separately the risks of increasingly severe damage states for each plant, component or building, and considering interactions and down time, and has been applied to petrochemical facilities in earthquake areas in Southeast Asia and to industrial sheds in windstorm areas in the UK (for BAE Systems). The approach is applicable to a wide variety of existing facilities and a range of potential hazards.

Download PDF (200 Kb) - [Whether to Strengthen?]