Mr. Peraza has 30 years of broad structural engineering experience including investigations of major collapses, analysis of existing structures, diagnosis of design and construction problems, condition assessments, design of remedial and stabilization measures for distressed buildings, design for renovation and adaptive re-use projects, peer reviews, evaluation of damage to adjacent structures caused by construction activities, and the analysis of unusual structures. His projects have included office buildings, high-rise residential structures, building façades, parking structures, pre-engineered buildings, industrial facilities, temporary structures during construction, and waterfront structures.
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Mr. Peraza led the emergency engineering response for the City of New York, which continued around the clock for nearly nine months and included the coordination of 39 engineering sub-consultant firms. He has led several high-profile structural collapse investigations including L’Ambiance Plaza, the Four Times Square Hoist Collapse, and the Miller Park crane accident.
Prior to joining Exponent, Mr. Peraza was Vice President with the LZA Technology division of The Thornton-Tomasetti Group.
Peraza DB. Avoiding structural failures during construction—Part 2. Structure Magazine, Copper Creek, Reedsburg, WI, February 2008.
Peraza DB. Avoiding structural failures during construction—Part 1. Structure Magazine, Copper Creek, Reedsburg, WI, November 2007.
Peraza DB. Presented the masonry portion of “Sticks and Bricks.” ABA Construction Forum, Los Angeles November 2007.
Peraza DB. The first steps after a failure. Proceedings of ASCE Structures Congress, in Long Beach CA. May 2007.
Peraza DB. Structural condition assessments: Challenges and solutions. Speaker at Construction Safety Week, sponsored by NYC Department of Buildings and SEAoNY, May 3, 2007.
Presented two hour seminar “Avoiding Failures During Construction” at four venues:
· NYC Department of Design and Construction, June 21, 2007
· NYC School Construction Authority, July 17, 2007
· NYC Department of Buildings, October 26, 2007
· ASCE Metropolitan Section meeting, November 29, 2007
Peraza DB. Getting to the bottom of underpinning. Structure Magazine, Copper Creek, Reedsburg, WI, December 2006
Peraza DB. Strategies for structural condition assessments of damaged buildings. Structure Magazine, Copper Creek, Reedsburg, WI, August 2006.
Peraza DB. Raising the playing field-quality in the constructed facility. Catastrophe Risk Management, April 2006, London, UK.
Peraza DB. Condition assessment of buildings. Proceedings, SEI Structures Congress, American Society of Civil Engineers, St. Louis, MO, May 2006.
Peraza DB, Ratay R. Structural condition assessments—The good, the bad, the ugly. Structural Engineers Coalition of Connecticut, New Haven, CT, March 15, 2006.
Peraza DB. Condition assessment of structures following an event. ASCE Met Section Construction Group Winter Seminar, “Engineering for Disasters: Prevention and Recovery,” New York, NY, March 6, 2006.
Peraza DB, Mendoca D, Stefan P. Innovation, risk, and reward at ground zero. Proceedings, SEI Structures Congress, New York, NY, American Society of Civil Engineers, April 2005.
Peraza DB. First steps after a failure. Proceedings, SEI Structures Congress, American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, NY, April 2005.
Peraza DB. Evaluation of damaged buildings. Lecture, presented to NYC Department of Buildings, March 2005.
Peraza DB, Zallen RM. Engineering considerations for lift-slab construction. American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA, 2004.
Peraza DB. Preservation of perishable evidence. The Owner's Construction Super Conference, San Francisco, CA, December 12, 2003.
Peraza DB. Engineering response to World Trade Center Disaster. Keynote Speech, presented at AGC-DOT Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY, December 2002.
Peraza DB. Twin Tower performance. Presented at AGC-DOT, Saratoga Springs, NY, December 2002.
Peraza DB. Lessons from recent collapses of metal buildings. Presented at Cold-formed Steel Structures 2000, 15th International Specialty Conference, St. Louis, MO, October 2000.
Peraza DB. Practical solutions to building envelope problems. Neocon 99 World’s Trade Fair, Chicago, IL, June 1999.
Peraza DB. Recycling of historic piers revitalizes Manhattan waterfront. ASCE 1997 Spring Seminar, “Just Structures,” New York, NY, May 1997.
Peraza DB. Metal deck collapse: Professional liability during construction. ASCE Annual Convention and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, October 1997.
Peraza DB. Lift-slab construction: Engineering considerations. ASCE Annual Convention and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, October 1997.
Peraza DB. Lessons from failures II. ASCE Annual Convention and Exposition, Moderator, 1994.
Peraza DB. Assessment of cinder concrete slab construction. Presented at ACI Spring Convention, San Francisco, CA, 1994.
Peraza DB. Investigation of the L'Ambiance Plaza building collapse. ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, November 1992.
Peraza DB. Hartford Coliseum collapse in retrospect. Presented at ASCE Structural Engineering Congress, Chicago, IL, September 1985.
Book Chapters
Peraza DB. Buildings. In: Structural Condition Assessment, Chapter 6. Wiley, 2005.
Peraza DB. The first steps after a failure. In: Forensic Structural Engineering Handbook, Chapter 4. McGraw-Hill, 2000.