Photo by Allen Weiss 



Spencer Rogers ter. In 1980, he worked with the build- 



ing code council to remedy a problem 

 he saw frequently in coastal houses — 

 overnotched pilings. 



To connect the floor foundation to 

 the piling, builders often sawed out a 

 large section of the piling's top to 

 create a ledge for the floor joists. In 

 strong winds, these notched pilings 

 snapped, and the house fell. 



The council changed the code. 

 Now, no more than 50 percent of the 

 piling top can be cut away. 



In 1983, the council decided to re- 

 vise the coastal construction standards. 



Rogers helped draw up changes that 

 would make coastal homes stronger. 

 "The old code was pretty good for 

 most buildings," says Rogers. "But it 

 had some weaknesses. 



"Sinking pilings 8 feet in the ground 

 is a good standard. But for erosion- 

 prone beachfront areas, 8 feet is not 

 enough." 



Other construction techniques, such 

 as bracing buildings with plywood, 

 became standard. But the practice, 

 which resulted in a more secure build- 

 ing, was not part of the building code. 



And Rogers opened the council's 

 eyes to the effects of corrosion on coast- 

 al construction. 



Corrosion can weaken the metal 

 straps and joists hangers used to 

 strengthen building connections 

 against hurricane-force winds. 



The day the recommendations were 

 delivered to the council. Hurricane 

 Diana began churning the waters off 

 the North Carolina coast. 



The building code was hours away 

 from its first test. 



Diana pushed ashore with 100 mph 

 winds but very little storm surge. After- 

 ward, Rogers joined homeowners, 

 building inspectors, insurance adjus- 

 ters and designers in inspecting the 

 damage. 



"Out of several thousand buildings, 

 only 136 were observed and inspected 

 with structural damage," Rogers says. 



In contrast, a hurricane of similar 

 intensity, Alicia, made landfall at Gal- 

 veston Island in Texas in 1983. There, 

 about 35 percent of the 3,000 houses 

 located in the West Beach community 

 were destroyed beyond repair. 



Federal flood insurance standards 

 required West Beach buildings to be 

 built above the anticipated storm 

 surge. But few other construction regu- 

 lations were enforced. 



North Carolina's rigorous standards 

 clearly made the difference. But Rog- 

 ers cautions that Diana was an easy 

 test. 



The building standards were de- 

 signed for 120 mph winds. 



"Diana's estimated winds of 90 to 

 100 mph provided only 70 percent of 

 the actual design conditions," Rogers 

 says. "The extra 30 percent would have 

 undoubtedly caused more severe 

 damages." 



Even after the good news from 

 Diana, the council revised the building 

 standards and made them mandatory 

 as of Jan. 1, 1986. 



The code now requires beachfront 

 homeowners to sink pilings 5 feet below 

 sea level or 16 feet below ground level, 

 whichever is more shallow. 



In addition, the code instructs con- 

 tractors to frame buildings with ply- 

 wood and to take into account the 

 effects of corrosion. 



"We're pleased with the code as it 

 stands now," says Jess Allred, chief 

 code consultant for the N.C. Depart- 

 ment of Insurance. "It's not foolproof. 

 Every house can't stand up to every 

 hurricane, but the majority of them 

 should stand the test." 



