THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, September 12, 1996          TAG: 9609120321
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
                                            LENGTH:   47 lines

FRAN DAMAGE BLAMED ON SHODDY BUILDING OLDER BUILDINGS, NEW WOOD CONDOS WERE HARDEST HIT, AN ENGINEER SAYS.

Most beachfront damage from Hurricane Fran resulted from shoddy construction, not the storm's power, an engineer said Wednesday after studying the destruction in North Carolina.

``This really wasn't a severe test at all,'' said Peter Sparks, a civil engineer at Clemson University who has studied the impact of hurricanes on single-family structures.

``The only damage we saw was to fairly old buildings. There was some storm surge damage. And some relatively new condominiums made of wood were severely damaged, which is a sign of poor construction,'' he said.

Sparks said that while winds were estimated at 115 mph with gusts up to 135 mph, they never got that strong near the ground. At New River, N.C., on the stronger northeast side of the storm, the maximum was 67 mph, with gusts up to 94 mph, he said.

Engineering colleagues David Rosowsky and Scott Schiff also visited North Carolina. Schiff said one purpose of the trip was to tell people how to better build structures so they can better withstand hurricane winds.

It can be as simple as using extra nails to attach shingles, they said.

Sparks said that generally after hurricanes people pay more attention to building along the coast.

He said Hurricane Hugo, which hit the South Carolina coast in 1989, wiped out many beach cottages that have been replaced with more substantial structures.

``I think we're in better shape,'' he said. ``We have elevated (structures) to reasonable heights and we have better piling systems.''

But he said most Hugo damage was inland, and while builders are making structures more hurricane-proof on the beach, that's not the case elsewhere.

``If we perfectly built all our houses on the beach and none were damaged, in another storm like Hugo it would be just as expensive,'' he said.

The main cost of Hugo was thousands of relatively minor claims in urban areas like Charleston and Columbia, he said.

Fran's damage also spread inland as it cut a 150-mile-wide swath across North Carolina from the South Carolina border to the Virginia line. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS color photo

In the Fort Fisher area, the storm pummeled the beach. The dune once

reached the base of the posts supporting this porch. by CNB