Mitigating Seismic Risk in the Developing World: Lessons Learned in Haiti and Promotion of Alternative Solutions

Abstract eng:
On January 12, 2010 a devastating earthquake struck the Republic of Haiti. Despite measuring just a moderate 7.0 on the Richter scale, this earthquake is considered one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in recent history, exposing the vulnerabilities of established construction practices in a country plagued by poverty and political unrest. Over six years after the earthquake, despite the millions of dollars pledged and the (initial) interest from the global structural engineering community, the sad reality is that most families displaced due to the earthquake do not have a clear road map toward permanent, earthquake resistant housing. While many agreed that sustainable redevelopment and self-reliance was essential for Haiti, international goodwill and intentions were insufficient to deliver such solutions, particularly in the domain of urban residential housing. Currently, the only construction practices that can compete in the free market, i.e., in absence of foreign aid and donor funds, are the same ones that created the vulnerabilities in the 2010 earthquake. Unfortunately this is not just the story of Haiti. Many parts of the developing world share the same vulnerabilities in the face of seismic hazards, especially resulting from residential construction practices among low income families. This paper reviews the experiences of the authors in Léogâne, Haiti, during the development of an empowerment framework for (a) assessing seismic vulnerabilities, (b) understanding the economic/cultural/societal origins of these vulnerabilities and (c) offering alternative solutions when operating in such unique, resource-constrained environments. Emphasis is placed on the challenges created by the financial realities families in these countries face as well as the hurdles created by the absence of quality control systems. It then proceeds to discuss technical aspects of a solution promoted by the research team for residential construction in Haiti. The main novelty for this solution is the replacement of the concrete masonry units (CMU) used in Haiti for wall construction by lightly reinforced, pre-cast concrete panels. The panels are simply used as a cladding element and facilitate a considerable reduction of the construction cost and mass of the walls (when compared to the traditional CMU-based solution). With the walls acting completely as a non-structural element, a special moment resisting reinforced concrete (RC) frame is used as the structural system. The design iterations for the panels, as well as the quality control mechanisms developed for the RC frame, established through the construction of prototypes at Notre Dame and in Léogâne, are discussed. The panel’s interaction with the RC frame is also examined though a nonlinear static analysis, utilizing an equivalent strut model to incorporate the panels into the analysis. Comparisons between the proposed solution and the common, pre-quake CMU-based construction demonstrate the benefits of the alternate system.

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