Vibration investigation of the museum building at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico
King KW, Carver DL, Worley DM. 1988. Vibration investigation of the museum building at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open-File Report. 88-544. US Geological Survey
White Sands National Monument is located in south-central New Mexico near the White Sands rocket testing center and the Alamogordo Air Force Base (fig. 1). This report presents the results of a study on the building response of the museum-administration building at the White Sands National Monument. The study evaluated the vibration response of the building, some sources of vibrations which are suspected to be the cause of cracking damage in the building's adobe material; this report suggests remedies to minimize future cracking as a consequence of induced vibrations. The park building under investigation is an adobe, two-tier in height that has parapets on the roof surfaces that give the structure the visual elegance and grace of the ancient Taos pueblos. The structure was originally constructed in 1936-38 using adobe materials in the Southwest-Spanish-Pueblo traditional style. The Pueblo style of construction consists of thick adobe vertical walls with flat roofs supported by large, exposed log beams (vigas) (fig. 2). The outside surface of the adobe walls of the structure presently has a cement-gunnite type covering to help prevent weathering of the adobe and to improve the cosmetic appearance. The current structure consists of the original building with several additions and modifications. Most of the changes, with the exception of the gift shop and workshop additions, used similar building methods and materials as in the original building. The recent external surface covering (gunnite walls and latex roof) and the concrete block wall cores of the gift shop and work shop differ from the original adobe-type building materials and methods. Most of the observed damage is visible in the gunnite-type covering and the damage cracks pass through the older adobe materials. Major cracking is located on the walls and are visible at several places on the building. An inventory and photographs of the wall cracking were made for the study. The general locations of the more visible cracks are shown on figures 3~A, B, C, D.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- King, Kenneth; Carver, David; Worley, David
- Date of Issue
- 1988
- Publisher
- US Geological Survey
- Units
- HIST , WHSA
- Keywords
- Administration, Adobe, Damage, ehistory, gunnite, History, Museum, Southwest-Spanish-Pueblo traditional style, Structure, Vibration investigation