[NHCOLL-L:2794] Re: bolting down museum cases

[P Boylan]

Gary:

Building Codes are national or local issues so on the strictly legal side
you would need to take advice locally.  Presumably your architects will be
familiar with the applicable regulations, but if you have doubts about
what's proposed presumably you can check with your local or State building
control service?

On the wider issue I would have thought that in all by the most extremely
stable regions in terms of seismicity - and I don't think that Washington
State would fit that description - securing cases in the way suggested
should be a normal part of your emergency preparedness measures.

On a study visit to Venezuela for the new International Council of Museums
(ICOM) Museum Emergency Programme (MEP) a couple of years ago I was very
impressed with the way that shelving and cabinets in the new National
Library in Caracas were being secured very simply and cheaply.  Small
L-shaped steel brackets around 3 inches x 3 inches x 1 inch wide were
screwed or bolted to the sides of the shelving units along the bottom of
each row, with the other arm of the "L" being screwed or bolted to the
floor.  Then light steel bars (though I suspect that wood would do) fixed
to the tops of the shelving or cabinets were used as cross-braces across
the gangways between the units.  I doubt if all of this added more
than perhaps a couple of percent to the cost of the new storage
while massively reducing the risk of the collections being tipped onto the
floor - or worse. Fixed to the floor and cross-braced in this way you have
an extremely strong series of units which was are very resistant to
tipping over in the event of earthquakes etc. or indeed other problems
(fire, building collapse etc.)



Patrick Boylan
City University London

==========================


On Mon, 22 Aug 2005, Gary Shugart wrote:

> Hi all:  Architects are telling us that our museum cases, stacked two high
> (VACs and wooden 2x4x4 ft), need to be bolted to the floor as per building
> code.  Just wondering if anyone has been required to bolt cases to the
> floor?  And if not, did you have to deal with building  codes?  This is in
> new construction.
>
> Gary Shugart
> Collections Manager
> Slater Museum of Natural History
> University of Puget Sound
> Tacoma, WA 98416
> 253 879-3356 (museum)
> gshugart at ups.edu, gwshugart at hotmail.com
>
>