The Hayward Fault

The Hayward fault Our first stop was at founder’s rock. The founders’ rock is a huge rock close to the foothill dormitory and it’s where the founding fathers of Berkeley decided to build the university. They decided to build the university here because of their agriculture. Berkeley, has a creek running, to be more precise, Berkeley had various creeks running. Therefore, water is easily accessible, so they decided to build the university to have easy access of water and great soil. However, what they did not know of was that they built the university right next to the Hayward fault. This is the biggest hazard because if the university were built somewhere else it would not have so difficulties with construction or anything in particular. The foothill dorm was the second spot we stopped at. We saw the outside of the dormitories and the bridge connecting both dormitories on both sides. The Foothill dormitory was made right on top of the Hayward fault. It was not built there on purpose but they did try to find the fault by digging up trenches, but sadly misunderstood it. This is a huge hazard for the buildings and for the students living in the dormitory. However, we saw how they took some in consideration of earthquakes and instead of building concrete walls around it, they built concrete floor on the foundation all under the dorm. They did this indoor to stop the swaying individually, but to make the whole dorm sway as one. This will stop the tearing and the disruption of the dorms and the foundations. Also we saw how the building were made of framed wood, meaning if there was to be an earthquake the building wouldn't collapse, but could potentially stay up. Moreover, we also saw how the bridged was connected to both dorms. This bridge was built about 4 years go, by this time the engineers already knew about the Hayward Fault. The bridge was created to connect the two buildings, which are on opposite sides. However they modified the bridge to make it