Introducing this website

This website provides a general introduction to the building technology of confined masonry, and it’s generally excellent performance in damaging earthquakes.

Over the past 30 years, hundreds of thousands of people all around the globe have been needlessly killed by the collapse of their own homes during earthquakes. Typically, concrete frame buildings with masonry infills perform very poorly when subjected to strong ground shaking, as do buildings of unreinforced brick masonry, if not designed and built well.

An alternative construction technology, using the same construction materials, is CONFINED MASONRY construction. Confined masonry is a construction system where the masonry walls are built first, and the concrete columns and beams are poured in afterwards to enclose (confine) the wall. It has typically performed well in past earthquakes worldwide, when built according to code requirements. Its satisfactory earthquake performance is due to the joint action of masonry walls and their confining elements.

Given the universal popularity of masonry and the widespread availability of cement, reinforcing steel, and aggregate, confined masonry is a simple solution. By making some inexpensive and easy changes to traditional construction materials and procedures, the risk of casualties can be significantly reduced. Very few cases of collapse have been reported in past earthquakes worldwide.

This website offers examples of confined masonry construction around the world, as well as guidelines for the design of such buildings and additional video and print resources. Explore by using the menu at the top of this page. 

IIT Gandhinagar India Faculty and Student Housing

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In the first widespread application of confined masonry in India, the new campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar is using confined masonry for its student hostels and faculty and guest housing. Thirty buildings with 9 flats each are being built for faculty as well as student hostels that will house 1,200 students. These buildings are part of a larger campus that includes a central core of academic buildings constructed with RC frame construction. The massive construction project includes some on-site materials fabrication.  IIT Gandhinagar’s Construction Workers Welfare Programme was also recently recognized with the national HUDCO Award for “Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment 2013-14″, citing the housing, safety and welfare practices it has implemented for construction workers. EERI member Sudhir K. Jain is Director of IIT Gandhinagar and is overseeing the application of this technology in the construction of his new campus. 

Kanpur, India Workshop

An International Strategy Workshop on Promotion of Confined Masonry was organized at Kanpur (India) during 26-28 January 2008 by National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), and the World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI). A small group of experts from India, U.S.A., Switzerland, Peru, Mexico, China, Indonesia and Canada developed a strategy to promote confined masonry worldwide, with two major objectives: improve the design and construction quality of confined masonry where it is currently in use; and introduce confined masonry in areas where it can reduce seismic risk. A confined masonry network was created at this meeting to promote safe and economical housing worldwide by bringing quality confined masonry into the design and construction mainstream