Data Center Knowledge asks whether Social Security new data center will be strong enough to withstand a tornado. The answer is clearly NO but the scarier thing is that it may not be strong enough to stand up to even a minimal hurricane either. It's only designed for 90 mile per hour winds! I don't think you are allowed to construct even an ordinary home that close to the coast in North Carolina, where I live, without building it to stand up to much more than 90 mile per hour winds.
Think that hurricanes don't hit as far North as Maryland? Tell that to the hundreds of people killed by the hurricane that hit New England in 1938 with winds of 160 miles per hour. Since 1980 Maryland has been hit by 55 cyclonic storms, including hurricanes! Hurricane Hazel, which is still vividly remembered in many places, including Toronto, Canada, pummeled Maryland with hurricane force winds in 1954.
Japan has just demonstrated the chaos that can happen when you don't plan for uncommon events hitting major infrastructure locations. What is Social Security thinking?
Think that hurricanes don't hit as far North as Maryland? Tell that to the hundreds of people killed by the hurricane that hit New England in 1938 with winds of 160 miles per hour. Since 1980 Maryland has been hit by 55 cyclonic storms, including hurricanes! Hurricane Hazel, which is still vividly remembered in many places, including Toronto, Canada, pummeled Maryland with hurricane force winds in 1954.
Japan has just demonstrated the chaos that can happen when you don't plan for uncommon events hitting major infrastructure locations. What is Social Security thinking?
6 comments:
I'm sure you meant, "what is GSA thinking."
They're probably thinking of how much money they can't get from the budget for this, unfortunately.
i thought the data center was scrapped as part of the budget compromise.
concern about winds in excess of 90 mph from a Hurricane in Urbana - REALLY??? A tornado - sure an F5 could pop out of nowhere like it did in Largo, MD a few years ago and destroy virtually any structure but it's very unlikely...almost as unlikely as a Hurricane somehow coming that far inland and maintaining wind speeds that high...
90 mph is the design windspeed for Montgomery County Maryland for commercial buildings...
http://permittingservices.montgomerycountymd.gov/dpstmpl.asp?url=/permitting/bc/nfbldc.asp
Not sure exactly which county the data center will be in, but it probably uses the same design criteria, which are based on the International Building Code. Building codes are based on some factor of safety and are actually considered VERY conservative for the most part. Your off-the-cuff comment that 90 mph is not sufficient is pretty ignorant.
Geez, maybe they should plan for a meteor hitting the data center from outer space, too.
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