www.sefindia.org

[admin]

Dear All:

Heartiest greetings to all as we celebrate  India’s 61st anniversary as a Republic. A Republic which is vibrant, diverse, and disarmingly democratic. One that is  frought with problems yet  holds the promise of a bright tomorrow for its  young, dynamic and never-say-die population.  


Importantly, we remember this  day exactly a decade ago when more than 13800 people died in a cataclysmic earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat. It is an occasion for us to reflect on how far we have come in earthquake safety of our built environment since. Some good things have indeed come out of it.  Not the least of which is the birth of SEFI on January 26, 2003. SEFI is,  like India, vibrant, diverse,  democratic and holds great potential.  

But when we scan our surrounds with a wide-angle lens, can we truly say we are building a safer habitat today than we were ten years ago? In our rush for building more, and faster are we missing out something? Is the structural engineer designing better? Are the construction materials better? Is the site engineer paying more attention to the quality of construction? Is the supplier or the contractor? Is the client interested in good work?  In brief, have we improved in our competency and knowledge? And have we become more honest and diligent,  have we more integrity than we did a decade ago?  

There are no easy answers to these questions. At the  country level, we are grappling with the very same soul-searching that we are as an engineering  community. One only hopes that posterity will not look at us and judge us harshly. One hopes that we have made some small contributions to the built habitat that speak well of what we have achieved.  

Let us once again dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of good engineering- be it design or construction. In a world where it is so easy to get carried away by the current practice of engineering  which involves aggressive marketing and savvy business sense rather than engineering skills  and where  success is defined by the number of projects you handle and the money you make, let us listen to the still,  inner voice within us which cajoles us to do it right and derive joy in a job well done even if no one else notices it.  

Thank you and regards,


Alpa Sheth
Admin SEFI

Posted via Email

[VPandya]

Dear  Ms Sheth,
yes it is very imortant to remember " this  day exactly a decade ago when more than 13800 people died in a cataclysmic earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat."  

Also we should remember very recent earthquake in Pakistan of M7.2 magnitude.
Shocks were felt in many cities in India, people came out of there residences
in Jaipur  Raj, and other cities.
To start  in   the right direction let us implement  NDMA GUIDELINES OF
April 2007, for existing  priority structures (Schools and Hospitals).
Let us  do Seismic Auditing and where required Seismic Strengthening  of existing
Schools and Hospitals.  Of course  all new Structures will be designed properly by professional Structural Engineers   using  governing Seismic Code.

Regards.

Vasudeo Pandya  P.E. ;  S.E. ; MASCE
Structural Engineer     

[hameed mohamed younus]

Please subcribe to this site and also read the topic – for structural engineering this site give a very good feed backs

http://www.sefindia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=29861#29861


From: VPandya [mailto:forum@sefindia.org]
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 5:13 PM
To: announcement@sefindia.org
Subject: [SEFI] Re: On 10th Anniversary of Bhuj Earthquake of 2001


Dear Ms Sheth,
yes it is very imortant to remember " this day exactly a decade ago when more than 13800 people died in a cataclysmic earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat."

Also we should remember very recent earthquake in Pakistan of M7.2 magnitude.
Shocks were felt in many cities in India, people came out of there residences
in Jaipur Raj, and other cities.
To start in the right direction let us implement NDMA GUIDELINES OF
April 2007, for existing priority structures (Schools and Hospitals).
Let us do Seismic Auditing and where required Seismic Strengthening of existing
Schools and Hospitals. Of course all new Structures will be designed properly by professional Structural Engineers using governing Seismic Code.

Regards.

Vasudeo Pandya P.E. ; S.E. ; MASCE
Structural Engineer

Posted via Email

[prof.arc]

Indeed that event is a turning point in earthquake engineering, as it has brought a great awareness. 
Even in a quieter place like in Chennai, it has caused ripples as some would like to believe they are in Ahmedabad rather than in Chennai



I believe Architects are still not aware of the lessons and would like to eliminate beams altogether and also have slender rectangular shaped columns with large aspect ratio.


Designs have drastically improved due to ready availability of commercial software


The importance of quality construction is still neglected.
I hope one day, there will be inspection and approval prior to casting the floor and also prior to applying plaster to inspect the defects.
 
ARC
Ps:
Happy Birthday to SEFI !!!


On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 6:48 PM, admin <forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org)> wrote:

[hameed mohamed younus]

I am surprised to know that earthquake comes without warning
There are several signs before the earth quake struck the area
Like well water raising sharply, changes in birds, dogs and other animal behavior
Several underground movements can be recorded

The same happened on tsunami advance warning was there – if a normal people find some thing new we don’t have a centre to take these information and process and send to the concern centre where the expert make out the effect and put on alert  

Is there any system now available to send alert to all mobile in that particular area for earth quake or strom or flood warning??? This is the cheapest communication which can save lifes

Even Australia fail to alert people in the low laying area to be alert –  

Hameed
Interested in AAC building material  
hameed@shar.com.sa (hameed@shar.com.sa)



From: prof.arc [mailto:forum@sefindia.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 5:51 AM
To: announcement@sefindia.org
Subject: [SEFI] Re: On 10th Anniversary of Bhuj Earthquake of 2001


Indeed that event is a turning point in earthquake engineering, as it has brought a great awareness.
Even in a quieter place like in Chennai, it has caused ripples as some would like to believe they are in Ahmedabad rather than in Chennai



I believe Architects are still not aware of the lessons and would like to eliminate beams altogether and also have slender rectangular shaped columns with large aspect ratio.


Designs have drastically improved due to ready availability of commercial software


The importance of quality construction is still neglected.
I hope one day, there will be inspection and approval prior to casting the floor and also prior to applying plaster to inspect the defects.

ARC
Ps:
Happy Birthday to SEFI !!!


On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 6:48 PM, admin forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org))> wrote:    
--auto removed--

Posted via Email

[bharatthej]

Hi,

Just like the NorthRidge earthquake that changed the face of structural steel design, Bhuj has changed the engineer attitude towards Seismic Design. Still i feel in the county, where the group apartment complex etc that come adjacent to the municipal zone under panchayats, builders dont follow the minimum detailing specified to them. Moreover Just like FEMA, we should have some agency by group of elites to specify some recommendations in critical cases for practising engineers. Site inspection in other task that need to be fullfilled by structural engineer, for precision in employing the structural drawings on site.


Thanks


Bharat Thej 


Structural Engineer


Dar-Al-Handasah
_______________x_______________

On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 8:21 AM, prof.arc <forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org)> wrote:
[quote]            Indeed that event is a turning point in earthquake engineering, as it has brought a great awareness. 
Even in a quieter place like in Chennai, it has caused ripples as some would like to believe they are in Ahmedabad rather than in Chennai



I believe Architects are still not aware of the lessons and would like to eliminate beams altogether and also have slender rectangular shaped columns with large aspect ratio.


Designs have drastically improved due to ready availability of commercial software


The importance of quality construction is still neglected.
I hope one day, there will be inspection and approval prior to casting the floor and also prior to applying plaster to inspect the defects.
 
ARC
Ps:
Happy Birthday to SEFI !!!


On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 6:48 PM, admin forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org))> wrote:
      --auto removed--

Posted via Email

[hadi08]

Seismic waves are caused by the sudden disturbance in earth, causing waves which travel through the earth. I am really not aware we can predict the exact time of earthquake. The more important issue is how to prevent casualties.  Many casualties are caused by damaged done to the structures. We can go with light gauge steel for construction which is earthquake resistant.


Abdul Hadi Syed
Structural Engineer EIT
EFS Structures Inc

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 10:53 PM, hameed mohamed younus <forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org)> wrote:

[bharatthej]

@ Abdul Hadi: Before talking about earthquake lets realise that we see that phenomena in day to day life. What is Shear??? It is change in Shape WITHOUT change in volume (No compression obviously). Apply Pure shear to any body, a wave is generated, which propagates in a direction where the particle displacement is zero (A transverse wave). Its velocity depends on the elasticity or rather the Shear modulus of the material And hence it is called A Shear Wave or a "S" Wave. A crystal for example can have 3 isotropic properties in three dimensions and hence have different shear modulus (or shear wave velocity) in those three axis. Earths crust by itself has diverse geography hence making it difficult to judge the time taken by shear wave or the S wave to reach the detection centre. Remember that water has Zero Shear modulus and hence earthquake originated in water is not that dangerous. But the compressive wave or the primary "P" wave is often associated with huge mass transfer (based on the Bulk modulus) and hence the resultant wave tsunami becomes that dangerous.More the damping due to mass, ore the time taken by it to travel unlike S waves. (high mass transfer with speed). Geologists typically decide the physical properties of a material purely based on the the two wave velocity measurements. Detecting the S wave obviously can pay wave to warning systems, but a little more research is required for detection ( shearwave measurement techniques in case of varied orthotropic materials) but i am sure it is not completly out of scope.

Thanks,


Bharat Thej 


Structural Engineer


Dar-Al-Handasah

On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 9:38 PM, hadi08 <forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org)> wrote:
[quote]            Seismic waves are caused by the sudden disturbance in earth, causing waves which travel through the earth. I am really not aware we can predict the exact time of earthquake. The more important issue is how to prevent casualties.  Many casualties are caused by damaged done to the structures. We can go with light gauge steel for construction which is earthquake resistant.


Abdul Hadi Syed
Structural Engineer EIT
EFS Structures Inc

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 10:53 PM, hameed mohamed younus forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org))> wrote:

      --auto removed--

Posted via Email

[hameed mohamed younus]

You are right – As I am concentrating of green building material at the same time earth quake proof building – our production is fully Autoclave Aerated Blocks and Roof panels which withstand earth quakes

Most of the earth quake senarios I have seen is small and medium hoses collaping – which were not build to the standard due to it is not in the city limit and in panchayat village or township where no one had strong authority to stop building what the owner wishes

We have developed a ground plus 2 floor concept with AAC blocks and roof panel which will not fall completely as you know well – I our concept we have reduce the price and it will cost less than conventional cement and concrete building – considering heavy labour reduction – this is modular concept prefabricated panels, block and litels – no need of any experience mason – no foundation needed  

Hameed
Espac Building Material Co
Dammam


From: hadi08 [mailto:forum@sefindia.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 7:09 PM
To: announcement@sefindia.org
Subject: [SEFI] Re: On 10th Anniversary of Bhuj Earthquake of 2001


Seismic waves are caused by the sudden disturbance in earth, causing waves which travel through the earth. I am really not aware we can predict the exact time of earthquake. The more important issue is how to prevent casualties. Many casualties are caused by damaged done to the structures. We can go with light gauge steel for construction which is earthquake resistant.


Abdul Hadi Syed
Structural Engineer EIT
EFS Structures Inc

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 10:53 PM, hameed mohamed younus forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org))> wrote:    
--auto removed--

Posted via Email

[hameed mohamed younus]

Dear Eng. Bharatihej
I am not an engineer but have enough knowledge to understand your points – which much much knowledge based, for a lay man – we have to use the old traditional method for dedecting the earth quake and tsunami – it does ot need much equipments – there are several species of animals, birds who have very advance warning and our village wells water level sudden changes and natural signs are all to be recorded –  

If we have several places observers feeding the the centre – then the experts can make out the warning  

Casualties can be avoided – even without a earth quake Mumbai have several building comes down there are very visible sign of the accident but no one take advance step to demolise the building – the best way is to put the ower of that building to force im to stay in his building and take the risk but the owner are in a strong building not careing for the old tenants this is the problem  

Solution is that there must be a longer railway track which take the people faster to outside the city and then have small villas building and people come and go to the city  

Hameed
Espac Building Material Co
Dammam – Saudi Arabia


From: bharatthej [mailto:forum@sefindia.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 7:36 PM
To: announcement@sefindia.org
Subject: [SEFI] Re: On 10th Anniversary of Bhuj Earthquake of 2001


@ Abdul Hadi: Before talking about earthquake lets realise that we see that phenomena in day to day life. What is Shear??? It is change in Shape WITHOUT change in volume (No compression obviously). Apply Pure shear to any body, a wave is generated, which propagates in a direction where the particle displacement is zero (A transverse wave). Its velocity depends on the elasticity or rather the Shear modulus of the material And hence it is called A Shear Wave or a "S" Wave. A crystal for example can have 3 isotropic properties in three dimensions and hence have different shear modulus (or shear wave velocity) in those three axis. Earths crust by itself has diverse geography hence making it difficult to judge the time taken by shear wave or the S wave to reach the detection centre. Remember that water has Zero Shear modulus and hence earthquake originated in water is not that dangerous. But the compressive wave or the primary "P" wave is often associated with huge mass transfer (based on the Bulk modulus) and hence the resultant wave tsunami becomes that dangerous.More the damping due to mass, ore the time taken by it to travel unlike S waves. (high mass transfer with speed). Geologists typically decide the physical properties of a material purely based on the the two wave velocity measurements. Detecting the S wave obviously can pay wave to warning systems, but a little more research is required for detection ( shearwave measurement techniques in case of varied orthotropic materials) but i am sure it is not completly out of scope.

Thanks,


Bharat Thej


Structural Engineer


Dar-Al-Handasah

On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 9:38 PM, hadi08 forum@sefindia.org (forum@sefindia.org))> wrote: