UA engineering team studies Haiti buildings that survived for clues

They may benefit from the research of a University of Arizona associate professor and his team.

Shortly after the January 2010 quake, a group led by UA's Robert Fleischman went to the island's capital, Port-au-Prince, to learn more about the disaster's primary cause of death: structures that couldn't withstand earthquakes.

The team didn't examine collapsed buildings but studied those that withstood heavy damage. Those buildings were perfect for research, said Fleischman, an associate professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics.

"We documented the damage, the location, severity, and type, and then pretending like we'd never seen it, we created computer models of the buildings," he said. The group made blind predictions about the buildings' outcomes. With the help of U.S. Geological Survey data, the researchers estimated how the ground moved in the earthquake.

Fleischman said he was inspired to see Haiti firsthand after realizing what kind of damage was caused by the 7.0 magnitude quake.

"The situation in Haiti is dire, but it was dire before the earthquake," he said. "Seventy percent of the country is impoverished, and half the people don't have access to clean water. The earthquake just made an awful situation almost unbearable."

Group members are still working on their final conclusions. They're still evaluating the computer models for how well they reproduce information observed about the damage.

Fleischman explained there are four measurement factors to be examined: the overall state of the structure, intensity of the damage, the mode of failure and spatial pattern. Fleischman said the last is the major contribution from his team.

Fleischman said many models link hazard to damage level. However, his team is building three-dimensional structure models to see how the models match real buildings. Depending on how closely the models and real buildings match up will reveal to the researchers how accurate their work is.

Construction mistakes are fairly obvious to earthquake engineers, Fleischman said. To explain why Haitians weren't prepared for a quake, he compared Haiti to the East Coast.

The U.S. has documented seismic activity for 230 years, but that's nothing in geological time, he said. They're extremely rare, but geologists know East Coast earthquakes happen, he said. Engineers haven't considered that when building there, however.

It's the same idea in Haiti, he said.

"There were major earthquakes in Haiti in the 19th century, but 150 years is a long time for a country in turmoil that doesn't have a strong government and proper education," he said. "People are more worried about hurricanes, but it's not the same thing for earthquakes."

Rebuilding Haiti is a complex task that isn't just about knowing a building's structure, Fleischman said. U.S. engineering standards are different than those in Haiti for reasons such as finances and education.

"You need a solution that's low-cost and foolproof," he said. "You want to train to build human capital, to train with proper techniques so they can do things themselves. But even if there's better education and knowledge, there's no money and a lack of appropriate resources."

Different standards mean a different plan of attack, Fleischman said.

"We're not trying to have a well-performing building like a hospital (in the United States). We're just trying to keep huge slabs of concrete from coming down and killing people."

Group member Karl Telleen had similar thoughts. "It's something that has to be specific to that place and local materials with respect to their local building traditions," he said.

"The tricky part there is not just to make it safe, but to make it something people will enjoy living in and learn to replicate themselves."

The team included UA grad student Giovanni Federico and UA postdoctoral researcher Dichuan Zhang as well as engineers Telleen, Andreas Schellenberg and principal Joseph R. Maffei from the San Francisco-based Rutherford & Chekene engineering firm.

The group was funded by a $40,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's Rapid Response program.

Fleischman is working with the UA student chapter of Engineers Without Borders to help come up with low-cost solutions.

Project manager Curtis Miles, who also visited Haiti just after the quake, is eager to work with Fleischman.

The group is reviewing construction methods, such as a technique that takes regional soil combined with cement to make bricks. It's an inexpensive choice because it creates construction material from the site itself. Miles said that researchers are even considering using debris from the disaster.

Telleen said the experience has been rewarding.

"It was a challenge," he said. "But the most rewarding part was actually meeting with people and getting to touch these damaged buildings. I saw what broken concrete feels like, and I know this is why I do what I do with earthquake engineering."

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Victoria Blute is a NASA Space Grant Intern. E-mail her at vblute@azstarnet.com