四川地震:
改善传统房子的结构

众所周知，好的建筑做法是用铁，钢筋混泥土，石头或砖瓦来建的房屋子。
传统的以石头，泥，和木头建的房子不是很好的被人们认清，而突然而来的
地震事件让那些住在里面的人认识到他们（房子在建造上的）错误。另外，
由于时间紧迫，灾后重建的房屋很有可能在质量上不过关。因此，在修建
房屋前，更正那些传统意义上为一个整体的建筑物的结构不足，让它们尽
可能的正确，是非常重要的。在这儿，你可以找到一些特别的建议，也可以
链接到其他页面，包括一些必要的信息，关于改善你自建房的结构，并且不
需要很大的经费支出。

Typical structural problems of traditional housing in the region (Yunnan) can be found in the following report. YunnanReport

The use of through stones is recommended in most manuals dealing with the improvement of low-cost housing in seismic regions. However, their effectiveness had not been assessed using analytical methods.

A simple analytical model (UDEC) was used to analyze the effectiveness of introducing through stones in the wall. The results clearly indicated that they do increase both the stability and ductility of a two-wythe stone wall.

Click Here For More Details

Delamination Process in a Two-Wythe Stone Wall without Through Stones
(Using UDEC, by Patrik Meyer)

Unreinforced Stone Masonry

Problem Statement
- Most of the unreinforced stone masonry dwellings were either badly damaged or destroyed.
- Most of these houses belong to very poor people who cannot afford to hire masons or buy cement and steel for reinforcement.
- The house owners have already started rebuilding their houses and are doing it without introducing any significant improvements in the construction..

Objectives
1. Printed materials: raise the awareness among the people whose houses were destroyed about the deficiencies of the traditional stone masonry construction practices and provide cost-free solutions (except for aditional labor)..
2. Workshops: Organize one-day hands-on workshops to teach improved construction practices.
3. Construction supervision: Train and organize people (and soldiers?) to supervise the future construction of houses. The construction supervision should ensure that the construction improvements are implemented in the correct way.

Useful links
NSET: National Society for Earhtaquake Technology - Nepal - Excellent page full of resources
http://www.nset.org.np/nset/php/english.php
IAEE Guidelines for Earthquake Resistant Non-Engineered Construction
ARUP: Design Guide for the Repair of Earthquake Damaged Buildings, India
Learning Earthquake Design And Construction
Construction Guidelines For Earthquake Resistant Buildings
Improving Earthquake Resistance (and others) of Housing
Construction Manual for EQ Resistant Eathern Buildings
Corrugated Roofing
Precast Made Easy

Additional useful manuals

Adobe Tutorial
User friendly, self-learning tutorial to build improved adobe structures. Download (PDF)

Reinforced Masonry Manual
Basic construction rules to build safe masonry structure using cost-effective reinforcement
Download (PDF)