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Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineer Leslie Youd to be Featured on CUTV News Radio

OREM, UTAH, UNITED STATES, January 23, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- What occurs in soil during earthquakes that makes the ground liquefy and loose strength, leading to generation of ground displacements that pull apart buildings, pipelines and highways, and generates slope failures in earth dams and on hillsides, and leads to building settlement and tipping? One exceptional engineer has effectively studied the reasons earthquakes have resulted in the tragic loss of life and massive destruction and provide answers that can aid us in reducing damage and life-loss in future catastrophic disasters.

T. Leslie “Les” Youd is a highly regarded Geotechnical and earthquake engineer and one of the most distinguished expert researchers on soil liquefaction.

“With proper preparation most of the population can categorically survive an earthquake,” says Les. “The most significant and critical factor is that homes and buildings must be built to resist earthquakes since more people have been killed by building collapses than any other earthquake effect.”

During his childhood Les’ father was a farmer so having the opportunity to grow up around irrigation Leslie developed a fascination for engineering and attended Brigham Young University and Iowa State University where he received his BS and PhD in civil engineering respectively in 1964 and 1967. Once he learned about geotechnical engineering, the use of the ground as an engineering material, he pursued geotechnical engineering and was offered a fellowship and other support go to continue his studies in geotechnical engineering.

“In 1971 I was assigned by USGS to study the San Fernando Valley earthquake which caused occurrences of liquefaction that damaged buildings, dams, roads and pipelines, which triggered my interest in liquefaction,” says Les. “In identifying sites where liquefaction occurred and the damage it caused, I realized a need for better understanding of this phenomena.

Over time Les developed a world-wide reputation for his studies of liquefaction-induces ground effects, which led to further opportunities to share my discoveries through publications and workshops.

“The 1971 San Fernando earthquake killed 64 people, mostly in the Veterans Hospital which collapsed,” says Les “While that number of casualties is tragic, it is not staggering, indicating that much, but not all, pre-1970 construction has some earthquake resistance. Based on damage from the 1971 earthquake building standards are improved from lessons learned from successive earthquakes has led to much improved codes and building construction practices. Thus, most modern US building construction has high earthquake resistance. “But less developed countries like Haiti, Pakistan and Thailand where recent earthquakes have killed tens of thousands of people, poor building construction practices are still common and will be a factor in future catastrophes. Not many people in this country are killed from earthquakes because our buildings are sturdier so it’s a matter of building correctly.”

Another big problem is old buildings that were not built or upgraded (an expensive process) to modern standards. Most studies indicate that such older buildings will be a major cause of casualties in future US earthquakes.

“To prepare for an earthquake we must be mindful when building new homes,” says Les. “A solid durable earthquake proof foundation and building is necessary.”

Thankfully we are constructing much safer pipelines to which Les’ research and consulting has been a contributing factor. Les and other’s contributions are leading to safer pipelines, bridges and buildings and infrastructure.

“The future is certainly bright and promising,” says Les. “With computers, engineers are developing enhanced and superior methods for construction of new buildings and infrastructure. If bridges and buildings are designed to resist earthquakes and other natural hazards our society will be more secure.”

CUTV News Radio will feature Les Youd in an interview with Jim Masters on Friday January 25th at 3 pm EST.

Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio

If you have any questions for our guest, please call (347) 996-3389.

Author: Beatrice Maria Centeno

Lou Ceparano
CUTV News
(631) 850-3314
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