Work-portfolio

Name of assignment or project: Sub-soil investigations and as built structural/foundation as well as

architectural drawing towards seismic risk assessment and developing retrofitting design
Year: May 2013-July 2014
Location: Dhaka Medical College Hospital (Main Building), Bangladesh Secretariat Building No. 1 &
Bangladesh Secretariat Building No. 4
Client: Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP II)
Main project features: Structural Assessment
Positions held: Senior Structural Engineer
Activities performed:
Developed guidelines for structural assessment.
- Lead field assessment and lab testing.
- Lead the development of final assessment reports
- Method followed : ASCE-31-06

As built Foundation by auger

Building Survey for as built architectural

drawing

Concrete Core Cutting for testing in lab

Direct Shear Test for Masonry Structures

PS Logging

Schmidt hammer test for Masonry Units

Development of As built Structural Drawings

Name of assignment or project:

Earthquake Risk and Damage Assessment and Subsequent
Development of Scenario-based Contingency Planning for Rangpur, Dinajpur, Mymensing, Tangail,
Bogra and Rajshahi Municipalities / City Corporations and Detailed Building Inventory of the Said
Towns Including Dhaka and Chittagong City Corporation Areas
Year: 2012-date
Location: Bangladesh
Client: Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP-II), Ministry of Food and Disaster
Management (MoFDM), Disaster Management and Relief Division (DMRD), Government of the People's
Republic of Bangladesh
Main project features: Seismic Vulnerability Assessment
Positions held: Senior Structural Engineer
Activities performed:
- Lead and develop vulnerability assessment survey for the country.
- Lead the non-destructive testing (Ferro-scan, Ultrasonic Measurement, Dynamic Property investigation
for Buildings).

Direct Shear Test for developing fragility curves

of Masonry Structures

Base Map Preparation

Sample Seismic Risk Assessment Results

13

Scenario
Earthquake
Selection

Seismic Hazard

Soil
Classification

Data Inventory
and
Vulnerability

Seismic
Damage
Estimation

GIS Platform
Simplified RADIUS Methodology
( After Nippon Koi and Oyo 2001)

Adopted method for Seismic Damage

Estimation

Presence of vulnerability factors in Kelowna city,

Canada

Spatial Distribution of Vulnerability

Work flow diagram of the GBR methodology

Mean damage factors (MDF) for wooden (WLFLR) and concrete (CFCWHR) buildings in
Vancouver, Canada (after Onur et al. 2005 and RADIUS 2000

Name of assignment or project: Seismic Hazard and Vulnerability Mapping for Rangamati, Bandarban
and Khagrachari Municipality, Bangladesh
Year: 2009-2010
Location: Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari Towns of Bangladesh
Client: Chittagong Hill Tract Development Facility (CHTDF), United Nation Development Program
(UNDP), Bangladesh.
Main project features: Seismic Vulnerability Assessment
Positions held: Project Coordinator and Structural Engineer
Activities performed:
- Lead the field teams in Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban Municipalities
- Formulation of methodology for Vulnerability Assessment for respective municipalities.

Assessment for identification of boring sites

Setting of Survey Base Station using RTK GPS at

Bandarban on 14 November

Interview of a house owner during building vulnerability

assessment survey

Site of Landslide in Bandarban Town (the landslide damaged

one mosque on the site in 2007)

Name of assignment or project: Earthquake Vulnerability and Risk Assessment for Dhaka, Chittagong
and Sylhet City in Bangladesh
Year: 2008-2009
Location: Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet City of Bangladesh
Client: Comprehensive Disaster Management Program (CDMP), Ministry of food and Disaster
Management, Bangladesh.
Main project features: Seismic Vulnerability Assessment
Positions held: Field Coordinator and Structural Engineer
Activities performed:
- Lead the field teams in Chittagong.
- Lead the non-destructive testing (Ferro-scan, Ultrasonic Measurement, Dynamic Property investigation
for Buildings) team in Dhaka, Chittagong & Sylhet.
- Liaise with different Government offices for inventory collection.
- Formulated the working methodology for Building Vulnerability survey.

Assessing concrete quality with UPV

Calibrating NDT Equipment at Lab

Name of assignment or project: Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Buildings in Heritage and Non
Heritage Areas in the Older Part of Dhaka City
Year: 2009
Location: Old Dhaka
Client: Dhaka City Corporation
Main project features: Seismic Vulnerability Assessment
Positions held: Structural Engineer (Field team lead)
Activities performed:
- Lead the field teams
- Lead the non-destructive testing (Ferro-scan, Ultrasonic Measurement, Dynamic Property investigation
for Buildings)
- Liaise with different Government offices for inventory collection.
- Formulated the working methodology for Building Vulnerability survey.
-Being very close to the boundary of two active plates: the Indian plate in the west and the Eurasian plate
in the east and north, earthquake risk of major urban centres including Dhaka are quite substantial. After
the death of eight people in 2004, due to collapse of an old building at Shakhari Bazar in the older part of
Dhaka City, Town planning department of Dhaka City Corporation felt the necessity of undertaking an
initiative to assess seismic vulnerability of 113 selected buildings at Shakhari Bazar and Biren Bosh Street
Dhaka City Corporation area, declared as heritage and non-heritage respectively. Consequently, a
consortium of Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and a consulting firm Datex were assigned to
undertake seismic vulnerability assessment and prepare separate Structural Assessment Reports for each
of these selected buildings. This paper reports the methodology used for assessing seismic vulnerability
and a summary of the assessment being done for 113 selected buildings in Ward no. 66, 72 and 73 of
Dhaka City Corporation area. Besides, the paper also puts forward some recommendations regarding
future course action that needs to be undertaken for the buildings assessed.

Outline of the Methodology followed

N.B. Further work with UBC O

Name of assignment or project: Study on Exploring Structural Vulnerabilities of School Infrastructure in

Naltona Union, Barguna, Bangladesh
Year: 2014
Location: Barguna, Bangladesh
Client: Plan International, Bangladesh
Main project features: Multi Hazard Risk Assessment
Positions held: Senior Structural Engineer/ Team Lead
Activities performed:
- Lead the field teams
- Lead the non-destructive testing (Ferro-scan, Ultrasonic Measurement, Dynamic Property investigation
for Buildings)
- Liaise with different Government offices for inventory collection.
- Formulated the working methodology for Building Vulnerability survey.
- Being a disaster prone country, in Bangladesh, the emphasis to make schools safe place of learning for
children is of paramount importance. The United Nations International Strategy on Disaster Reduction
has also given high priority to make school safer since it is in line with the Priority of the Hyogo
Framework for Action 2005-2015. Realizing the facts, Plan International Bangladesh has taken initiative
for conducting school vulnerability assessment focusing school infrastructures. Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center (ADPC) Bangladesh office has provided technical assistance for understanding the
prevailing hazards, exiting physical condition of school buildings in terms of disaster vulnerabilities and
preparedness by the respective schools. The study has been conducted in 21 buildings of 19 selected
schools of Naltona Union, Barguna district of Bangladesh. The study reveals that, out of 21 buildings, 5
were identified as highly vulnerable to flood hazard, whereas for earthquake, 16 buildings were found to
be moderately vulnerable. In the particular Union, the Cyclone hazard became more prominent because
of the existing wind speed (260 km/hr). Hence, for Cyclone hazard, 16 buildings were found to be very
highly vulnerable, and rest 5 were found to be highly vulnerable. Some of the recommendations and
guidelines have also been provided in the study. This initiative will be an opening towards
comprehensive school safety and disaster preparedness especially at the rural settings. The outcome of
the study can also be a guideline for future sustainable education infrastructure within Bangladesh.

Overall Methodology

Damage Functions for Earthquake (Source: MRVAM 2014)

Table 1: Overall Risk Assessment Results
Name of the school
Noltona govt. Primary School

Damage probability for Flood & Storm Surge (return

period 25 years)
Moderate

Damage probability for Cyclone (basic wind speed 260 km/hr)

Damage probability for Earthquake(return period 43 years)

High

Moderate

Golbunia govt. Primary School

High

Very High

Low

Nishanbaria govt. Primary School

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Garjanbunia govt. primary school (Building 1) C3L

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Garjanbunia govt. primary school (Building 2) BFL

Moderate

High

Moderate

Garjanbunia high school and College (Building 1 )

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Garjanbunia high school and College (Building 2 )

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Uttorpadma Adarsha Reg. Primary School

High

Very High

Low

Aga padma Surja Ujjal Reg. Primary School

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Babuganj govt. Primary School

High

Very High

Low

Purba Garjanbunia govt. primary school

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Shialia govt. Primary school

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Shialia govt. High school (Under construction)

Babuganj Adarsha Secondary School
Gorapadma govt. Primary School

Moderate
Moderate
Moderate

Moderate
Moderate
Moderate

Moderate
Moderate
Moderate

Sonatola govt. Primary School

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Maddha Gazi Mahmood Reg. Primary School

High

Very High

Low

G.N.S Adarsha Maddhomik Girls High School

High

Very High

Low

Gazi Mahmood govt. Primary School

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Gazi Mahmood Nimno Maddhomik School

Moderate

High

Moderate

Pashchim Nishanbaria Reg. Primary School

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Name of assignment or project: Structural Assessment of Plan Internationals Office Building

Located in Saidpur, Nilphamari
Year: 2012
Location: Saidpur, Nilphamari
Client: Plan International, Bangladesh
Main project features: Seismic Vulnerability Assessment
Positions held: Senior Structural Engineer/ Team Lead
Activities performed:
- Lead the field teams
- Lead the non-destructive testing (Ferro-scan, Ultrasonic Measurement, Dynamic Property investigation
for Buildings)
- Liaise with different Government offices for inventory collection.
- Formulated the working methodology for Building Vulnerability survey.
- Sikim earthquake of Mw= 6.9 on September 18, 2011, at India-Nepal border region showed some minor
damage to several buildings of Bangladesh. According to USGS, an earthquake intensity of MMI IV was
felt in the Rajshahi region. Besides, noticeable damages (some visible cracks) were seen in the office
building of Plan Bangladesh at Saidpur, Niphamari. After that, Plan Bangladesh has appointed Asian
Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) to assess the vulnerability of the particular building against any
probable seismic event. To accomplish the work, ADPC has applied state-of-the-art field survey methods
as well as structural analysis to assess the existing vulnerability of the building. Finally, some
recommendations as well as an evacuation plan have been proposed for the preparedness interventions.

Direct Shear Test

List of Publications

List of Publications
Alam, M.N. Tesfamariam, S. & Alam, M.S. (2012), Application of GIS in Seismic Risk Assessment for the City
of Kelowna", Natural Hazards Review, ASCE, 2012.
Alam, M.N. Alam, M.S & .Tesfamariam, S. (2011), " Comparison of Building Vulnerability Assessment Methods
for Use in Seismic Risk Assessment, Natural Hazards, 2011.
M. N. Alam, K. Mashfiq, A. Rahman, S. M. Haque , (2010)Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Buildings in
Heritage and Non-Heritage areas in the Older part of Dhaka City 3rd International Earthquake Symposium,
Bangladesh Dhaka, March 5-6, 2010.
Md. Nurul Alam, Dr. Solomon Tesfamariam & Dr. M. Shahria Alam (2010), Seismic Vulnerability Assessment
of Buildings: Case Study with the City of Dhaka, Bangladesh, poster presentation in A Research Showcase in
School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, November 17, 2010, Canada.
Md. Nurul Alam, M. Shahria Alam, and Kasun Hewage (2010), Application of ICT in Construction: South Asian
Context, CSCE Conference, 2010 Manitoba, Canada.
Md. Nurul Alam, Dr. Jobair Bin Alam, Dr. Md. Shamsul Hoque, (2006)Accessibility Measurement: Framework
and Comparison of Approaches in the Context of Bangladesh Fourth Annual Paper Meet & International
Conference on Civil Engineering, 2006, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Md. Shamsul Hoque, Md. Abdul Waresh, Md. Asif Imran, Md. Nurul Alam (2008), Pedestrian Facilities and
Pedestrian Behavior: The Situation in Dhaka City, poster presentation 10th International Conference on
Application of Advanced Technologies in Transportation, May 27-31 Athens, 2008 GREECE
Md. Shamsul Hoque, Md. Abdul Waresh, Md. Nurul Alam, Md. Asif Imran, (2008), Before-After Study on the
Effect of Selected Pedestrian Underpasses of Dhaka City on Traffic Flow Characteristics International
Conference and Workshop on Sustainable Transport in Developing Countries (STDC2008), Bangladesh University
of Engineering and Technology (BUET) during August 28-29, 2008

Trainer (Resource Person &/ Training Coordinator)

Trainer (Resource Person &/ Training Coordinator)

2014
Abroad
International Course on Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction
(EVRC) , April 2014, Bangkok (Resource Person)
Training for Engineers & Planners at Mandalay, Myanmar,
March 2014 (Resource Person)
In Country
Sharing workshop on Risk Sensitive Land-use Planning in
Mymensingh Municipality, UDD, May 2014 (Resource Person)
Training on Scenario-based Contingency Plan with regard to
earthquake in Rajshahi City Corporation, Feb 2014 (Resource
Person)
Training on Scenario-based Contingency Plan with regard to
earthquake in Mymensingh, April 2014 (Resource Person)
Training on Scenario-based Contingency Plan with regard to
earthquake in Tangail, April 2014 (Resource Person)
Training on Seismic Risk Assessment for UDD-May 2014
(Resource Person)
Training on School Building Assessment, PLAN International,
Dhaka, May 2014 (Resource Person & Training Coordinator)
Field Training on Development of Fragility Curves for Masonry
Buildings with NSET in Different Cities of Bangladesh, Feb
2014 (Resource Person & Training Coordinator)

2013
Abroad
Workshop on Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction , Gujarat
Institute of Disaster Management , India July 2013 (Resource
Person & Training Coordinator)
Training on fragility curve development at Dili, Timor Leste,
Feb-Mar, 2013, (Resource Person & Training Coordinator)
In Country
Training on Scenario-based Contingency Plan with regard to
earthquake in Dhaka, December 2013 (Resource Person)
Training on Scenario-based Contingency Plan with regard to
earthquake, Bogra, January 2013, (Resource Person & Training
Coordinator)
Training on Earthquake Risk Assessment, Dinajpur, May 2013
(Resource Person & Training Coordinator)
Training on Scenario-based Contingency Plan with regard to
earthquake, September 2013, (Resource Person & Training
Coordinator)
Seismic Hazard and Vulnerability Assessment for Mymensingh
Municipality, May 2013, (Resource Person)
Training Workshop on Seismic Hazard and Risk Assessment for
Rajshahi City Corporation, April 2013, (Resource Person)
2012
Abroad

 Workshop on Integration of Risk Assessment into Physical

Infrastructure Development Process, Ministry of Urban
Development, Nepal 13-14 September 2012 (course director
& resource person)
Tour on development of concept notes on Integration of
Disaster Risk Management in Physical Infrastructure
Development for the Changing Climate, Ministry of Urban
Development, July 2012
International Workshop on Modern Tools for the Evaluation
of Seismic Induced Ground Shaking and Associated Secondary
Hazards for Earthquake Vulnerability, June 2012,
Pakistan(Resource Person)
In Country
Training for Engineers for Engineering Survey, Jan-May,
2012(Resource Person & Training Coordinator)
Training for Surveyors on Engineering database preparation ,
June, 2012 (Resource Person & Training Coordinator)
Training on Buildings Seismic Vulnerability and Risk
Assessment, Khulna University, December 2012 (Resource
Person)