Bay Bridge Earthquake STEM Case Study

Investigate the 1989 Bay Bridge deck collapse with this 6-page STEM packet covering seismic ground acceleration, anchor bolt shear, and bridge engineering.

Engage your middle and high school students with a comprehensive, hands-on deep dive into the iconic infrastructure failure during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. This complete printable unit bridges seismic physics, structural engineering, and public policy to teach out-of-phase movement, anchor bolt shear failure, expansion joint bearing seats, and modern retrofitting physics.

What’s Included in this 6-Page Unit Packet:

Page 1: Historical Case Study & Technical Breakdown – Full narrative of the October 17, 1989 disaster during the World Series, double-deck cantilever truss design, seismic S-wave propagation, anchor bolt shear failure, bearing seat limits, and comprehension check questions.

Page 2: Day in the Life Scenario Challenge – Roleplay assignment where students step into the shoes of a Lead Forensic Seismic Engineer on October 18, 1989, analyzing real-time earthquake telemetry, Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) logs, and bridge span displacement diagnostics.

Page 3: Hands-On Unplugged Simulation & Applied Math – Step-by-step math calculations comparing anchor bolt shear resistance capacity versus peak lateral seismic force, expansion joint seat lengths versus differential ground displacement, and safety factor ratios.

Page 4: Engineering Ethics & Workplace Dilemma – Critical thinking exercise exploring pre-1989 seismic inspection warnings, balancing multi-million dollar retrofit budgets, critical transit dependency, and public infrastructure prioritization.

Page 5: Redesign Brief & Innovation Lab – Creative blueprinting assignment where students design “Bay Bridge Seismic Retrofit V-2,” incorporating longitudinal tie-bars, hydraulic friction dampers, wide 30-inch seat extension ledges, and real-time seismic accelerometers.

Page 6: Teacher Answer Key & Scoring Rubric – Complete answer key for all analytical questions and math calculations, along with a 10-point grading rubric for evaluating student blueprints on Page 5.

Teacher Benefits:

100% Print-Friendly Format: Clean text layout with zero dark background boxes or awkward formatting for easy editing and printing.

Multi-Day Classroom Value: Designed to cover 3 to 5 full class periods. Perfect for Physics, Physical Science, Earth Science, Civil Engineering, Architecture, CTE electives, or emergency sub plans.

High-Interest Real-World Content: Combines real earthquake physics, structural shear math, forensic bridge inspection, state transportation policy, and seismic engineering redesign!