[slideshow_deploy id=’1165′]
After the devastating earthquake in 2010, efforts have been ongoing to introduce improvements in confined masonry construction practices as well as reinforced masonry.
Earthquakes Performance
There were examples of many of Haiti’s nonengineered structures performed well during
the 2010 earthquake. This was not necessarily a result of improved materials, design,
construction details, or ground conditions. As discussed above, the construction sequence
commonly used resembles Latin American confined masonry, in which the walls are
assembled prior to the concrete columns, and results in an improved wall-column bond. The
authors observed that structures with little or no damage frequently employed this assembly method. This construction technique is identifiable by the presence of concrete on the faces of the walls and within the crevasses of the masonry wall ends.

Guidelines, Codes, and Standards

Among the organizations working there are the following:
Build Change: Developing training materials for masons and homeowners, and facilitating the construction of new homes.

Swiss International Development Agency: Developing new guidelines for confined masonry construction.

• Masonry Guidelines in English
• Masonry Guidelines in Creole

Publications

• Introducing confined Masonry in a Fragile State: The Case of Haiti After the 2010 Earthquake, Ivan Bartolini, T. Schacher, Paper #4477
  Presentation 4477
• Seismic Retrofit of Confined Masonry Houses in Haiti: Lessons from Implementation, Clement Davy, M. L. Blaisdell, K. M. Sinclair, E. Hausler Strand, Paper #3888
  Presentation 3888

References:
Recipe for Disaster: Construction Methods, Materials, and Building Performance in the January 2010 Haiti Earthquake,  Justin D. Marshall, M.EERI, Anna F. Lang, M.EERI, Steven M. Baldridge, M.EERI, and Daniel R. Popp,