Day two of the Mid South Area trip will begin with a walking tour of downtown Memphis. We will start out at the Peabody Hotel, 149 Union Avenue (where we spent the first night). From here, we will walk west on Union Avenue. We will then turn right (north) on South Main Street. We will finish our walking tour at "Mud Island River Walk and Mississippi River Museum", 125 North Front Street. The entire tour is .6 miles and including stops along the way and should take about 2 hours to complete. Mud Island itself will take another 5 hours including lunch on site. After the tour, we will load up the vans and drive to New Madrid, Missouri to prepare for our next tour of New Madrid and the New Madrid Fault Zone.
Before departing from the Peabody Hotel, we will take
a look at the building's structure. The Peabody Hotel's construction began
in 1865, before the invention of modern day 
earthquake
resistant engineering. Its external structure is made entirely of brick
(as are most of the buildings in downtown Memphis) and the internal structure
contains no earthquake resistant materials. We will compare the engineering
of the Peabody to the newly built Autozone Corporate Headquarters building
(which is also on our walking tour). Why is the construction of buildings
in downtown Memphis so important? Because Memphis lies within the New
Madrid Fault Zone. To find out more about this earthquake zone, follow
the previous link.
After leaving the Peabody, we will walk west on Union
Avenue until we reach South Main. As we walk north, we will be able to
see the Mississippi River from the "bluffs" of Memphis. We will also we
able to see Arkansas across the river to the west. As we walk we will discuss
the flood plain of the Mississippi River from both the Memphis side and
the West Memphis, Arkansas side. It will be apparent from this view why
Memphis is said to be on the "bluffs" and why Memphis rarely, if ever,
floods and why West Memphis does.
As we continue on South Main, we will come to the newly
constructed Autozone Corporate Headquarters building. Located at 123 South
Front Street, the Autozone 
Corporate
building was the first building east of the rockies built with base
isolation. The entire structure is supported by elastmeric or sliding
bearings. This state of the art engineering design reduces damage during
an earthquake by allowing the building to slide with the movement of the
earth.
With Base Isolation
Without Base Isolation
| Return to Downtown Memphis.
Mud Island River Walk and Museum. Next site on trip. |
 |
 Questions/Comments? |
Graphics
Base Isolation, Energy
Research, Inc., as Retrieved from the World Wide Web, (July 5, 2003).
Maps at Yahoo.com, as Retrieved from the World Wide Web (July 2003).
The Peabody Hotel, as Retrieved from the World Wide Web, (May 13, 2003).
USGS,
The Mississippi Valley-"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", as
Retrieved from the World Wide Web, (1998).
Photos
Thomas, Donna (May 2003).
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