The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Seismic Strong-Motion Instrumentation Program

Abstract

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) currently operates a seismic Strong-Motion Instrumentation Program (SMIP) throughout the United States to provide a measure of project performance, provide insight into the safety of USACE projects, and establish a data base for earthquake research. Strong-motion instruments used for SMIP consist of digital and analog accelerographs, peak acceleration recorders, and seismic alarm devices. These instruments have been placed at earth, rock, earth and rock, arch, and gravity dams owned and operated by the USACE. At present, 123 projects located in 32 states and Puerto Rico are monitored with more than 500 strong-motion instruments. The USACE network is second in size to that operated by the California Division, of Mines and Geology.

The purpose of this paper is to present various aspects of the USACE SMIP including criteria for design of installations, recording equipment, operation, maintenance, performance to date, upgrades, future goals and the importance of interagency cooperation. Particular attention is focused on economics and advantages associated with ultimate conversion to remotely accessed digital instrumentation.