Seeking Low-Cost Seismic Protection for Urban Masonry in an Unstable Terrain
Earthquakes pose a significant threat to housing in developing countries. The citizens of these countries often lack the financial means to sufficiently protect their homes against seismic actions. In accordance with the eleventh UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), steps need to be taken to protect these vulnerable populations from the looming possibility of a severe earthquake. Specifically, the geographic location of Peru designates it as an especially earthquake-prone country, and many of its citizens cannot afford seismic reinforcement for their homes. Middle-class, urban residents, such as those in Lima, Peru often reside in informally constructed confined masonry houses which, in the case of a severe earthquake, would likely suffer significant damage or even collapse. For this reason, the seismic protection market is increasingly narrowing its focus to low-cost solutions. This report summarizes the existing low-cost propositions and discusses to what extent they would provide a feasible option for the aforementioned target population in Peru. Finding that even these “low-cost” solutions are out of reach for most of the middle-class residents of Lima, this report makes an alternate proposition. Rocking isolation offers great potential as an innovative and economical seismic protection alternative, but it has yet to be implemented as low-cost housing reinforcement. This emerging system of seismic protection could fill a gap in the market as it may provide a sufficiently low-cost accessible manner of protecting confined masonry homes.
Earthquakes pose a significant threat to housing in developing countries. The citizens of these countries often lack the financial means to sufficiently protect their homes against seismic actions. In accordance with the eleventh UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), steps need to be taken to protect these vulnerable populations from the looming possibility of a severe earthquake. Specifically, the geographic location of Peru designates it as an especially earthquake-prone country, and many of its citizens cannot afford seismic reinforcement for their homes. Middle-class, urban residents, such as those in Lima, Peru often reside in informally constructed confined masonry houses which, in the case of a severe earthquake, would likely suffer significant damage or even collapse. For this reason, the seismic protection market is increasingly narrowing its focus to low-cost solutions.
This report summarizes the existing low-cost propositions and discusses to what extent they would provide a feasible option for the aforementioned target population in Peru. Finding that even these “low-cost” solutions are out of reach for most of the middle-class residents of Lima, this report makes an alternate proposition. Rocking isolation offers great potential as an innovative and economical seismic protection alternative, but it has yet to be implemented as low-cost housing reinforcement. This emerging system of seismic protection could fill a gap in the market as it may provide a sufficiently low-cost accessible manner of protecting confined masonry homes.
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5 USD per meter run <strong>for</strong> the marble-marble <strong>an</strong>d marble-geosynthetic, respectively. [30]<br />
Calabrese, et al. describe Recycled Rubber Fiber Re<strong>in</strong><strong>for</strong>ced Bear<strong>in</strong>gs (RR-FRBs) that<br />
c<strong>an</strong> be produced <strong>for</strong> about one hundred euros per bear<strong>in</strong>g while also not<strong>in</strong>g that costs <strong>for</strong><br />
traditional bear<strong>in</strong>gs c<strong>an</strong> be <strong>in</strong> the thous<strong>an</strong>ds. [27] No matter the m<strong>in</strong>imal cost of the raw<br />
materials, recycled tires accomp<strong>an</strong>ied by a type of fiber, the m<strong>an</strong>ufactur<strong>in</strong>g process<br />
required with this technique causes a signific<strong>an</strong>t cost. On the other h<strong>an</strong>d, some authors<br />
describe their seismic protection system as zero cost. While the cost of materials may be<br />
zero, especially <strong>in</strong> the case of recycled tires <strong>an</strong>d demolished waste, there is presumably<br />
a cost of tr<strong>an</strong>sportation. Tr<strong>an</strong>sportation is a signific<strong>an</strong>t issue affect<strong>in</strong>g the cost of exist<strong>in</strong>g<br />
low-cost solutions. These added costs of tr<strong>an</strong>sportation <strong>an</strong>d import fees make these<br />
solutions too expensive to be considered. In addition, despite a surplus of these materials<br />
exist<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> some areas of the world, that may not be the case <strong>in</strong> less <strong>in</strong>dustrialized<br />
locations.<br />
For implementation <strong>in</strong> Lima, along with other urb<strong>an</strong> areas of develop<strong>in</strong>g countries,<br />
m<strong>an</strong>y of these proposed solutions fall short of the accessibility required to reach middle<br />
class urb<strong>an</strong> residents. Any m<strong>an</strong>ufactured bear<strong>in</strong>g, despite its attempts at low costs of<br />
materials, will <strong>in</strong>cur too signific<strong>an</strong>t of production <strong>an</strong>d tr<strong>an</strong>sportation costs. Materials like<br />
marble or geosynthetic mesh, as proposed <strong>in</strong> some solutions, will also be difficult <strong>for</strong> these<br />
populations to acquire. In addition, m<strong>an</strong>y of the exist<strong>in</strong>g seismic protection propositions<br />
focus on s<strong>in</strong>gle-story build<strong>in</strong>gs, <strong>an</strong>d a signific<strong>an</strong>t proportion of homes <strong>in</strong> Lima are multistory.<br />
MARKET ANALYSIS OF LOW-COST SEISMIC PROTECTION<br />
BORTON, SAM
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