Kent K. Sasaki

Experience

Kent Sasaki has performed engineering investigations on hundreds of structures, including high-rise buildings, warehouses, apartment buildings, houses, bridges, retaining walls, tunnels, aqueducts, seawalls, wharfs, water tanks, power plants, historic structures, mine processing buildings, and national monuments. He investigates damage from earthquakes, fire, earth movement, landslides, flooding, vibration, blast, and construction defects.

Mr. Sasaki provides expertise in the differentiation between old and new damage, the application of building codes to the repair of structures, and the evaluation of materials using nondestructive, destructive, load, and laboratory testing. He has substantial experience with insurance and litigation claims, investigates large collapses, designs repairs and seismic retrofits, and evaluates defect claims. Mr. Sasaki assesses structures affected by corrosion and alkali-silica reaction (ASR), authors technical papers, conducts research, presents at mediations, and provides expert trial testimony. As a commissioner for the California Building Standards Commission, Mr. Sasaki reviews and approves building codes (Title 24) for California.

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS

Bridges and Civil Infrastructure

• Caltrans Bridge Deck Cracking Research - CA: Investigation of early-age, concrete bridge deck cracking
• Sixth Street Bridge - Los Angeles, CA: Evaluation of ASR cracking on historic bridge

 

Code Consulting

• Saint Patrick Proto Cathedral - San Jose, CA: Determination of code-required repairs for fire-damaged church
• Willows Apartments - Martinez, CA: Design of repairs for fire-damaged apartment building

 

Earthquake Damage Assessment

• Washington Monument - D.C.: Assessment of damage after 2011 Virginia earthquake
• 2014 Napa; 2011 Virginia; 2011 Tohoku, Japan; 2001 Nisqually; 1994 Northridge; and 1989 Loma Prieta earthquakes

 

Failure/Damage Investigations

• Interstate 40 Bridges - Mojave Desert, CA: Investigation of failure of concrete bridges due to fatigue
• Water Tank - Westminster, CA: Investigation of rupture in water tank due to corrosion of reinforcing steel

 

Fire Damage

• MacArthur Maze Interchange - Oakland, CA: Assessment of fire damage to elevated roadway structures of major thoroughfare
• Alta Waverly Apartments - Oakland, CA: Assessment of fire damage to a large, post‑tensioned concrete podium floor slab
• Renoir Hotel - San Francisco, CA: Assessment of fire damage to historic hotel

 

Historic Preservation

• Fort Cronkhite Barracks - Marin Headlands, CA: Design of seismic retrofit for historic barracks
• Wawona Hotel - Yosemite National Park, CA: Design of seismic retrofit for historic hotel

 

Instrumentation/Monitoring/Load Testing

• Aqueduct - CA: Instrumentation for monitoring steel strain at large-diameter steel aqueduct
• Courthouse Square - Salem, OR: Load testing on concrete floor slabs at office building and bus mall

 

Litigation Consulting

• The Versailles Apartments - Los Angeles, CA: Expert testimony on applicability and requirements of historical building code
• San Quentin Prison - CA: Investigation of seawall damage and construction defects

Professional Affiliations

American Concrete Institute
American Institute of Steel Construction
American Society of Civil Engineers, past branch and section president
California Building Standards Commission, commissioner
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
International Code Council
International Concrete Repair Institute
Structural Engineers Association of California
Western Construction Consultants

Registrations

Civil Engineer in CA
Structural Engineer in CA and HI

Education

University of California, Berkeley
Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, 1987
Master of Engineering, Structural Engineering, 1989