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Location: N 29.95148, W 90.07692 (approximate)
The Amoco building, an approximately 24-story highrise in downtown New Orleans, suffered extensive damage to its glass curtain wall, with 10 to 20% of its glazing broken. Although close inspection was prevented, the glass was judged to be 1/4-in annealed. Eastbound lanes of Poydras St. just north of the building were closed because of the potential for more glass to fall. It may be noteworthy that, though the east façade of the Amoco building was heavily damaged, the east façade of the next building to the east was largely undamaged (Figure 2). These two structures and the Hyatt directly south of them enclose a small space (Figure 3), which could perhaps have produced local vortices that aggravated the window damage in the plaza and might explain the difference in performance of the east façades of the two buildings. The north façade of the Hyatt was heavily damaged, with most of its glass above the 5th floor broken (Figure 4). The Amoco building is located on the 1200 block of Poydras Street, one block east of the Superdome.
Figure 1: North and east façades, from Poydras St., showing extent of broken glass.
Photo: K. Porter (for MCEER)
Figure 2: East façade of the adjoining building.
Photo: K. Porter (for MCEER)
Figure 3: Enclosed space formed by Amoco Building (right), Hyatt (center, background), and 1250 Poydras St (left), viewed from the north.
Photo: K. Porter (for MCEER)
Figure 4: North and east façades of the Hyatt, which forms the southern corner of a small plaza.
Photo: K. Porter (for MCEER)
Submitted by Keith Porter and Gilberto Mosqueda
October 4, 2005
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