ON SOLID GROUND
The VA San Diego Healthcare System, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, recently completed a $60 million earthquake retrofit project.
External stairwells were reconstructed as load-bearing structures with a web of bracing, and a structural steel cage stabilizes the five-story building against lateral movement.
The 242-bed medical center, which stayed open during the two-and-a-half-year retrofit, should now be able to withstand and remain operational after an earthquake up to 7.2 on the Richter scale.
The L.A.-based Leo A. Daly firm finished the project four months ahead of schedule.