Seismic Retrofit of Confined Masonry Houses in Haiti: Lessons From Implementation

Abstract eng:
After the January 2010 earthquake, over 300,000 damaged houses were significantly affected by the earthquake according to the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment issued by the Government of Haiti. The damaged homes from the earthquake resulted in over 1,000,000 individuals left without housing. In response to the earthquake, Build Change, in collaboration with Degenkolb Engineers, developed a Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit Manual for small masonry houses in Haiti in order to facilitate the repair and strengthening of damaged homes. The aim of the manual was to provide a rapid, explicit and systematic seismic evaluation and retrofit procedure which could be implemented during post-earthquake reconstruction to not only speed the return of the displaced population to safe housing, but also create a permanent improvement in construction practices and mitigate future risk to the homes at a lower cost than building replacement. The manual procedures are based on the methodology of the U.S. standards, ASCE 31 and ASCE 41 and adapted for the applicable building types and materials used in Haiti. The most common construction type for housing in Haiti is unreinforced or partially confined concrete block masonry, the latter of which is not explicitly addressed in the ASCE standards. The performance criteria of the manual is to achieve life-safety performance in the design basis earthquake, based on the seismic hazard defined in the Code National du Bâtiments d’Haïti. The procedures identify key potential seismic deficiencies through a checklist format and require basic analysis, and then outline the corresponding retrofit techniques that can be used to address these deficiencies when applicable. For example, a simplified check is done on the lateral strength of the building shear walls versus the demand. If found deficient, options are outlined to either increase the building ductility through confinement of the masonry and thus reduce the demands on the walls, or to augment the wall strength to increase the capacity. The Haitian Ministère des Travaux Publics, Transports at Communications (MTPTC) adopted the manual procedures as the technical annex to their Guide for Building Retrofit (Guide de Renforcement Parasismique et Paracyclonique des Bâtiments). As of mid-2015, Build Change, working with partners, has provided technical assistance to engineers, homeowners and builders to evaluate and retrofit more than 1,400 homes and in addition, at least 10 other organizations have also implemented housing retrofit programs during reconstruction in Haiti based on the seismic evaluation and retrofit procedures and manual developed. This paper outlines the key challenges and solutions identified in implementing the evaluation and retrofit of confined and unreinforced masonry houses in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake. These challenges relate to the development of applicable and feasible evaluation and design criteria as well as viable retrofit techniques, to the training of engineers, builders and homeowners, to creating accountability in the construction management process and to maintaining quality control of the construction works.

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