Seismic upgrades at San Francisco's...

Seismic upgrades at San Francisco's U Customs House maintain its historic character

San Francisco's U Customs House is accustomed to earthquakes. The building's foundation had just been laid when the devastating 1906 quake hit. While the five-story, U-shaped building and its adjoining two-story 1911 appraiser annex have survived more than 80 years of minor quakes, the 1989 Loma Prieta termination stirred the owner, the U General Services Administration, to upgrade the tangled skein to comply with circulating California seismic standards.

Although the building sustained solitary minor ...