Suchergebnisse

Malawi experiences multiple natural hazards with severe effects on the population and the economy, amid challenging conditions of a rapidly degrading environment and limited resources. Recently, the Government of Malawi has taken the first major step to implement the national disaster risk management policy in close partnership with international aid organisations. Local communities and housing conditions are the key components for achieving sustainable development and for reducing the impact of natural disasters. This study presents the results of a recent building survey conducted in Central and Southern Malawi to understand the current situation of housing construction in Malawi more accurately. The survey focussed on the informal housing construction sector with respect to seismic vulnerability. The observed characteristics of local buildings are compared with the global building classifications that are widely used for evaluating seismic vulnerability of structures. Building typologies that are defined based on international building databases and those observed in the field are different, highlighting the importance of obtaining more realistic building information for seismic risk assessment.

A holistic seismic risk management framework for East Africa, with particular focus on Malawi, is under development as part of the EPSRC-sponsored Global Challenges (GCRF) grant PREPARE. The project aims to co-produce practical tools and guidelines for enhanced disaster preparedness in close partnerships with local governmental and academic institutions. For the seismic vulnerability assessment of masonry buildings in Malawi, a series of tests were conducted in the field and in the Civil Engineering laboratory of the Malawi Polytechnic in Blantyre. The specimens and applied loads are of three main types: (a) single bricks subjected to uniaxial compression and three-point bending; (b) masonry prisms subjected to compression, direct tension and interface shearing; and (c) masonry panels of different brick configurations and reinforcement subjected to in-plane compression/shearing and out-of-plane bending in two planes. The specimens were built by local artisans using locally produced materials to simulate actual field conditions and indigenous construction methods. The different kinds of reinforcement tested were inspired by the recommendations of the Safer House Construction Guidelines of Malawi. Focusing on the masonry panel tests in (c) above, the main results from the experimental program are presented herein. The results help quantify the effect of simple, available types of retrofitting/reinforcing of masonry houses in Malawi.