RAPID VISUAL SCREENING

OF
BUILDINGS
IN
GUWAHATI CITY
Dr. Indrani Gogoi
Department of Civil Engineering
NITK Surathkal
 DISASTERS IN THE
BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN
• EARTHQUAKE
• FLOOD
• LANDSLIDE
• EROSION
• CYCLONIC STORMS
 Major Earthquakes in the Northeastern
Region in Recent Past
Place Year Magnitud Remarks
Cachar March 21, e
7.8 Numerous earth fissures and
1869 sand craters
Shillong plateau June 12, 1897 8.7 About 1542 people died
Sibsagar August 31, 7.0 Property damage
1906
Myanmar December 12, 7.5 Property damage
1908
Srimangal July 8, 1918 7.6 4500 km2 area suffered
damage
SW Assam September 9, 7.1 Property damage
1923
Dhubri July 2, 1930 7.1 Railway lines, culverts and
bridges cracked
 Training Programme on RVS
Study
• 22nd Review Meeting of State Hazard
Safety Cell
• Chairman: Mr. V.K. Pipersenia, Principal
Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Revenue
& Disaster Management Deptt.
• Decision to conduct a training programme
on conducting RVS study as an
earthquake safety initiative for
Government/lifeline buildings
 A five day programme was organised by
the Department of Revenue & Disaster
Management, DRM programme in
coordination with Department of Civil
Engg., Assam Engineering Institute,
Guwahati for Engineers from different
State Government Departments at Assam
Administrative Staff College, Khanapara,
Guwahati from 16th -20th July, 2007 and
2nd-6th March,2009.
The Participants introduced to the
following concepts:

• RVS Technique
• Potential damage due to soil problems
• Identifying Building types & Damage
scales based on Earthqukae Intensities
Identification based on photographs –
assignments
 IS: 1893 Part-I 2002
 
Technique Adopted for RVS:
 
 Building Types in India
From the damage vulnerability considerations buildings in
India are classified as:
Masonry load bearing wall building

Building Description
Type

A Rubble (Field stone) in mud mortar or earthen

walls
A+ As above but one storey only having light roof
B Semi-dressed, rubble, brought to courses,
with through stones and long corner stones;
unreinforced brick walls with country type
wooden roofs; unreinforced CC block walls
 _ Masonry load bearing wall building

B+ As above of only single storeys and/or better

quality of construction
C Fully dressed stone masonry or CC block or
burnt brick walls built using good lime or
cement mortar.
Unreinforced walls but having RC floor/roof.
C+ As at C but having horizontal RC bands (IS:
4329, 13828).
D Masonry construction as at C but reinforced
with bands & vertical reinforcement, etc (IS:
4329), or confined masonry using horizontal
& vertical reinforcing of walls.
Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings (RCF)
and Steel Frames (SF)
Frame Description
Type
C RCF without Earthquake Resistant Design (ERD) or WRD
built in non--engineered way; RCF with hollow plinth (open
ground storey); SF without bracings having hinge joints
without ERD or WRD; RCF of ordinary design without
ERD or WRD.
C+ MR-RCF/MR-SF of ordinary design without ERD or WRD

D MR-RCF with ordinary ERD without special details as per

IS: 13920, without ordinary infill walls (Such walls may be
earlier similar to C in masonry buildings; MR-SF with
ordinary ERD without special details as per plastic design
handbook SP: 6(6)-1972.
……Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings (RCF) and Steel Frames (SF)

E MR-RCF with high level of ERD as per IS:

1893-2002 and special detail as per IS: 13920-1993
MR-SF with high level of ERD as per IS: 1893-2002
& special detail as per Plastic design handbook SP:
6(6)-1972.
E+ MR-RCF as at E with well designed Infill walls MR-
SF as at E with well designed braces
F MR-RCF as at E with well designed & detailed RC
Shear walls MR-SF as at E with well designed &
detailed steel braces & cladding; MR-RCF/MR-SF
with well designed base Isolation
Classification of damage to masonry buildings

Grade 1:
Negligible to slight damage (no structural damage, slight non-
structural damage)
• Hair Hair-line cracks in very few walls.
• Fall of small pieces of plaster only.
• Fall of loose stones from upper parts of buildings in very few
cases. [Restoration]
Grade 2:
Moderate damage (Slight structural damage, moderate non-
structural damage)
•Cracks in many walls fall of fairly large pieces of plaster.
•Partial collapse of smoke chimneys on roofs.
[Restoration]
Grade 3:
Substantial to heavy damage (moderate structural damage, heavy
non-structural damage)
•Large & extensive cracks in most Large & extensive cracks in
most walls, roof tiles detach.
•Chimneys fracture at the roof line; failure of individual non-
structural elements (partitions, gable walls).
[Restoration & Retrofitting]
Grade 4:
Very heavy damage (heavy structural damage, very heavy non-
structural damage)
•Serious failure of walls (gaps in walls), inner walls collapse; partial
structural failure of roofs & floors.
[Reconstruction & Restoration with partial Rebuilding/ Retrofitting]
Grade 5: Destruction (very heavy structural damage)
•Total or near total collapse of the building
[Debris Removal & Reconstruction]
 GRADES OF DAMAGE TO RCC BUILDINGS
Classification of damage to buildings of reinforced concrete

Grade 1:
Negligible to slight damage (no structural damage, slight non-
structural damage)
•Fine cracks over plaster over frame members or in walls at the base.
•Fine crack in partitions & Infills. [Restoration]

Grade 2 :
Moderate damage (Slight structural damage, Moderate non-
structural damages)
•Cracks in columns & beams of frames & structural walls.
•Cracks in partition & Infill walls; fall of brittle cladding & plaster.
•Falling mortar from the joints of wall panels.
[Restoration]
Grade 3:
Substantial to heavy damage (moderate structural damage, heavy
nonstructural damage)
•Cracks in columns & beams column joints of frame at base & at joints
of coupled walls.
•Spalling of concrete cover, buckling of steel rods.
•Large cracks in partition & infill walls. Failure of individual infill panels.
[Restoration & Retrofitting]
Grade 4:
Very heavy Damage ( heavy structural damage, Very heavy
nonstructural damage)
•Large cracks in structural elements with compression failure of
concrete & fracture of rebar’s, bond failure of beams reinforcing bars;
tilting of columns.
•Collapse of few columns or a single upper floor.
[Demolition or Extensive Restoration & Retrofitting]
Grade 5:
Destruction (Very heavy structural damage)
• Collapse of ground floor parts (e.g. Wings) of the building.
[Debris Removal & Reconstruction]

Probable damageability in few/ many buildings is

determined using the above given tables and
classified
Given format is used for each building in the
region of study
Time required to do RV for any building is around
30 minutes
 Format for
Rapid Visual Screening of Indian Buildings
for Potential Seismic Hazards
Site Visit: Assam Engineering Institute
GUIDED WALKING TOUR – ASSAM TYPE/
MASONRY BUILDING

AEI, Workshop Chandmari AEI, Auditorium, Chandmari

 Interpretation of RVS

Building Type Damage Recommendations

Grade

AEI • To increase the

• Workshop C G4 capacity of the
• Auditorium D G3 building so that
at least it could
be in the class D
type
PWD Office Chandmari Veterinary College Store House

Type Damage Recommendations

Grade
B+ G4 •Retrofitting and
upgradation to D type
GUIDED WALKING TOUR – RCC
BUILDING

PWD Office Building

ASEB Quarters
 RCC Buildings

Library Building

Veterinary College
 Recommendations – RCC BUILDING

Building Type Damage Recommendations

Grade
PWD Office, D G3 Repair and restoration
Chandmari
ASEB Housing, C/C+ G5/G4 Retrofitting/Demolish
Ulubari
Library D G3 Restoration/Retrofitting
 Outcome of the Program:
• 5-day course proved fairly effective to train as
rapid Visual Screeners
• Evaluation technique of many ill constructed or
seismically hazardous structures discussed
• Participants were Engineers from: PWD, ASEB,
Water Resources, GMDA, Agriculture, GMC,
Assam State Housing Board, PHE and Town &
Country Planning.
 Discussions:

• The type and damage grades associated

with RCC buildings were found to be
adequate for preliminary investigations
• No special scores (numerical) associated
with the maintenance or state of
degradation of these buildings
• Damage grade specific to Assam type
houses in Seismic Zone V need to be
addressed
• Flexible wall material, light roof, provision
of timber bands/ lintels – higher score
• RVS format for Assam type houses need
to be developed
 Discussions:

• Basic Scores and the Modifiers as in FEMA 154

(2002)8
– different structural forms of buildings
– pre-code penalty
– post-benchmark positive attribute
– different types of soil - dense, stiff and soft.
• Summation of scores is accurate
– do not depend on the screener’s in depth knowledge
and judgment.
• Helps in ranking the buildings for prioritizing the
repair and retrofitting process