Port of Houston Authority Fire Damage Evaluation
Fire impact analysis at terminal
Project Facts
| Location | La Porte, Texas |
Overview
Due to a significant fire, the Port of Houston required an assessment of its terminal RORO 1 building. We deeply reviewed the steel framing, X-bracing, concrete elements, and electrical systems. After our expert evaluation, conceptual recommendations and estimated repair costs were provided to the Port of Houston Authority and relevant stakeholders.
Services
About the Project
The Port of Houston Authority Barbours Cut Terminal RORO 1 building experienced a fire in June 2011 that lasted more than 5 hours. An unknown source ignited bales of cotton and rolls of paper stored in the southwest portion of the warehouse. The Port of Houston Marine Fire Department Incident Report indicated that the fire self-vented through the skylights before the first responders arrived. The Barbours Cut Terminal onsite fire department, a fire boat, and the La Porte and Baytown Fire departments extinguished the fire from multiple directions.
We visually assessed the RORO 1 warehouse to observe the steel framing, X-bracing, concrete slab-on-grade, concrete walls, concrete plinths, exterior siding, and roof decking. We reviewed available drawings, documented fire-damaged elements, and selected damaged materials for laboratory testing. To identify areas of electrical system damage, we coordinated with an electrical engineer and ensured that any structural repairs would respect the required codes.
Conceptual recommendations and opinions of probable cost for each repair option were provided to the Port of Houston Authority (PHA), the PHA insurance broker, the insurance carrier, and the insurance carrier’s engineering consultant.
