The Pacific Forestry Centre  is a federally owned building, home to the Canadian Forest Service in Victoria, British Colombia. The center acts as a research laboratory for a variety of causes including forest health, climate change, market research and the development of new wood-based products. Sensequake conducted a complete sensing test with our state-of-the-art technology and a seismic assessment on two of the center's blocks for our client, Natural Resources Canada.

British Colombia is notably located in a seismic zone, the Canadian province with the highest risk for potential earthquakes. The entire province is located in proximity to the Cascadia Subduction zone, a 100km long region of contact between two tectonic plates. The potential for a major slipping, referred to as "The Big One" by British Colombians, is increasing every year and would cause a seismic event of catastrophic proportions. This unavoidable time-bomb of sorts makes assessing buildings in this region crucial for building operators.

With our patented 3D-SAM software, our team of engineers and analysts helped construct real solutions to alleviate the damage which would be done to the Pacific Forestry Centre and increase the safety of the personnel inside, in the event of a strong earthquake. It is these pre-emptive measures that make us proud to provide our clients with peace of mind and reassurance in their structures.

Our testing included:
 

• Extracting the baseline of the structure

• A complete seismic analysis of the structure

• Performing a global ambient vibration test

• Performing a joint test between the different structures

• Extracting the modal properties of the structure with our software