Mat-Su construction boom: Building for disaster

May 21, 2006

By NAOMI KLOUDA

For the Frontiersman

Older homes in the Mat-Su have stood firm against tough hurls from Mother Nature, such as hurricane-force winds and even earthquakes.

But with the flood of new housing construction granting the area national standing in record growth, how safe are the homes?

Dodd Shay, a construction inspector, fears the answer to that question is, &#8220Not very.”

As the owner of Shay Inspections and a former Anchorage building inspector, Shay's work is analyzing bolts connecting walls to foundation - looking for elements of design that can resist the force of an earthquake.

&#8220The entire system has to be designed together to take a very specific load,” Shay said on a tour of homes at Settler's Bay. &#8220What walls will take what strains? As far as I'm aware, there is very little designing out here.”

Shay wants to make it clear he isn't criticizing specific builders or contractors. He said he sees good work going into home construction, even among those lacking earthquake resistance.

Shay hands out fliers telling people what they can do to make sure their homes are built safely. And while you can't rebuild a house, for about $4,000 to $8,000, homeowners can retrofit. The Mat-Su Valley sits on the Castle Mountain fault, and according to the flyer, a U.S. Geological survey found that, &#8220four earthquakes on the Castle Mountain fault in the past 2,700 years indicate an average recurrence interval of 700 years. As it has been 600-700 years since the last significant earthquake, a significant earthquake in the near future may be likely.”

Shay says his mission is to get information out there.

&#8220For most people, their home is their biggest investment. Yet there are too many people building homes without anyone watching out for them - they just don't know any better,” Shay said. &#8220When an earthquake comes, a lot of people will be in a world of hurt.”

Ken Hudson, chief of code compliance for the Mat-Su Borough, said part of the problem is that the borough doesn't have strict codes. Adopting codes is a political process that's proven too contentious.

&#8220But,” Hudson said, &#8220we're getting there. The fuss is that, at the same time you don't want government rules about what you do on your land, you want someone to make your neighbor stop what he's doing. It's part of the evolution of a community, an issue that other towns dealt with 50 years ago. We are literally being drug kicking and screaming into the 1950s.”

Nowadays, people aren't moving to the Valley to &#8220get away from government rules” as in the past, Hudson theorizes. &#8220They come because the land is cheaper here. They come from places that have codes.”

In 2005, according to a study by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, 1,956 homes went up in the Mat-Su - that's more than double the 1997 number of 880 new homes. The Matanuska Electric Association added 112 miles of underground line in 2005 to connect 2,876 new hook ups. This is more than 2004's record of 2,503 additional homes connected to electricity, said MEA spokesman, Michael Paule.

Current practices allow building contractors to hire their own structural inspectors. What worries Shay is the lack of oversight or guarantee for the home buyer.

&#8220A home built and sold without structural safeguards for earthquakes is like selling a car without seat belts or airbags,” Shay said.

Shay points out the standard for sound construction isn't aimed at protecting homes from earthquakes - that's a matter in the hands of Mother Nature that humans can't always protect against. Instead, it protects the people. The standard makes clear, specific recommendations for fire-proofing, electrical compliance, warmth and insulation. The idea is to prevent problems from resulting in a disaster.

&#8220The idea is to make it strong enough to protect you and your family during the earthquake so that you get out alive,” Shay said.

California instituted strict code enforcement for new construction and retrofitting of older buildings after quakes in 1971 and 1989. Anchorage has strict seismic and wind standards for all new housing. Jeff Hurd does planning review for the Municipality of Anchorage, meaning he pours over designs to make sure all the right calculations have been made.

&#8220Here we require wind analysis and seismic review. Winds get up to 125 mph on Hillside, so they (contractors) do the calculations - what the building weighs and wind forces. Shear walls and restraints all have to be designed,” Hurd said. &#8220Out in the Valley, they don't do calculations, they don't do seismic restraints. A house is a major investment that you are putting money into and you put your family in there.”

A solution would be to adopt codes requiring structural safeguards in homes.

It's not enough that lending institutions require certain standards, Hurd said. &#8220Banks are not pushing standards on builders to inspect for prescriptive code.”

Hudson, who's been on the job for 20 years at the borough, said as problems occur in homes and housing developments, the natural path for a community is to protect itself through a political process.

&#8220The question is how to deal with land-use and building-code issues in a borough the size of West Virginia,” Hudson said.