About the Book
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Know Your Hazards 4
Hazard awareness, 4
Earthquakes, 6
Further reading on earthquakes, 7
Wind storms, 8
Further reading on wind storms, 11
Floods, 12
Further reading on floods, 15
Land instabilities, 16
Further reading on land instabilities, 18
Chapter 2 Choosing a Safe Site 19
Siting and safety, 19
Siting a settlement, 19
Siting a building, 21
Safe siting in flood hazard areas, 22
Safe siting in areas with land instabilities, 23
Safe siting in wind-prone areas, 25
Safe siting in earthquake areas, 26
Further reading on safe siting, 27
Chapter 3 Building Safely in Brick and Block 28
Masonry and hazards, 28
Robust building form, 29
Firm foundations, 30
Good-quality materials, 32
Strong walls, 33
Distributed openings, 35
Horizontal reinforcement, 36
Safe modifications, 37
Regular maintenance, 38
Summary, 40
Further reading on building safely in brick and block, 40
Chapter 4 Building Safely in Earth and Stone Weak masonry and hazards, 41
Good practice, 43
Robust layout, 45
Ring beam, 46
Summary, 47
Further reading on building safely in earth and stone, 47
Chapter 5 Building Safely in Timber 48
Timber and hazards, 48
Why timber? 50
Good foundations, 51
Rigid vertical structure, 51
Braced floors and roofs, 53
Strong connections, 54
Regular maintenance, 54
Protect against fire, 55
Summary, 56
Further reading on building safely in timber, 56
Chapter 6 Building Safely in Reinforced Concrete 57
Reinforced concrete and hazards, 57
Why concrete? 58
Robust building form, 59
Regular frame, 60
Attention to element design, 64
High-quality construction, 65
Summary, 68
Further reading on building safely in reinforced concrete, 69
Chapter 7 Building a Safe Roof
Roofs and hazards, 70
Aerodynamic roof form, 71
Roof connected to structure, 71
Well-fixed roof covering, 72
Regular maintenance, 73
Summary, 74
Further reading on building a safe roof, 74
About the Author :
Andrew Coburn is Vice President of catastrophe research and Director of terrorism research at Risk Management Solutions. Coburn also worked extensively with Robin Spence, currently President of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering, on analysing earthquake risks and the effects of seismic activity on the built environment. Robin Spence is currently President of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering
