UC Berkeley’s Earthquake-Defying Floating Press Box “Steels” Award

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For a sports arena that can hold 85,000 people to be built directly on a fault line does not sound promising. But that’s what happened in 1923, when UC Berkeley opened their Memorial Stadium, presumably due to a lack of surveying technology. Over the years cracks began to appear in the building, as the Hayward Fault runs directly under the field—practically from goal post to goal post, as you can see below:

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With a 62% chance of a 6.7+ earthquake hitting sometime in the next three decades, something needed to be done, and the University recently revamped the stadium. Did they completely tear it down or move it, like you’d think they would? Nope: As the school’s Assistant Athletic Director Bob Milano Jr. pointed out in a 2011 article, “The alumni have some great memories at Memorial Stadium, and we have to make sure not to lose the heart and soul of the place.”

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