Report #: 194

Building Type: Confined masonry

Country: Cuba

Author(s): Grisel Morejon Blanco, Kenia Leyva Chang, Dario Candebat Sanchez, Zulima Rivera Alvarez, Yelena Berenguer Heredia, Madelin Villalon Semanat, Dominik H. Lang, Abdelghani Meslem

Last Updated: 01/26/2016

Regions Where Found: Santiago de Cuba

Summary: Confined brick/block masonry with concrete columns and beams

Length of time practiced: 25-60 years

Still Practiced: Yes

In practice as of: Pre-1985 until today

Building Occupancy: Single dwelling

Typical number of stories: 1-2

Terrain-Flat:

Terrain-Sloped:

Comments:

Plan Shape: Rectangular, solidL-shapeH-shapeU- or C-shape

Additional comments on plan shape:

Typical plan length (meters):

Typical plan width (meters):

Typical story height (meters):

Type of Structural System: Masonry: Confined Masonry: Clay brick masonry with concrete posts/tie columns and beamsMasonry: Confined Masonry: Concrete blocks, tie columns and beams

Additional comments on structural system: Gravity: Confined masonry wall system; the floors and roofs transmit gravity loads to the structural wallsLateral: Confined masonry wall system; the floors and roofs transmit gravity loads to the structural walls. Masonry shear walls give stiffness to the structure and control lateral drift, columns and beams provide adequate confinement and ductility to the masonry walls

Gravity load-bearing & lateral load-resisting systems:

Typical wall densities in direction 1: >20%

Typical wall densities in direction 2: >20%

Additional comments on typical wall densities:

Wall Openings:

Is it typical for buildings of this type to have common walls with adjacent buildings?:

Modifications of buildings:

Type of Foundation: Shallow Foundation: Rubble stone, fieldstone strip footing

Additional comments on foundation:

Type of Floor System: Cast-in-place beamless reinforced concrete floor

Additional comments on floor system: Cast-in-situ flat slabs

Type of Roof System: Cast-in-place beam-supported reinforced concrete roofWooden structure with light roof covering

Additional comments on roof system: Cast-in-situ flat slabs, zinc plates or corrugated asbestos boards

Additional comments section 2:

Who is involved with the design process? Owner

Roles of those involved in the design process:

Expertise of those involved in the design process:

Who typically builds this construction type? Other

Roles of those involved in the building process:

Expertise of those involved in building process:

Construction process and phasing:

Construction issues:

Is this construction type address by codes/standards? Yes

Applicable codes or standards: NC 46:1999 “Construcciones sismorresistentes. Requisitos para el diseno y construccion”

Process for building code enforcement:

Are building permits required?

Is this typically informal construction?

Is this construction typically authorized as per development control rules?

Additional comments on building permits and development control rules:

Typical problems associated with this type of construction:

Who typically maintains buildings of this type? Other

Additional comments on maintenance and building condition:

Unit construction cost: 100 CUC/m2

Labor requirements:

Additional comments section 3:

Patterns of occupancy:

Number of inhabitants in a typical building of this construction type during the day: <5

Number of inhabitants in a typical building of this construction type during the evening/night: 5-10

Additional comments on number of inhabitants:

Economic level of inhabitants: Low-income class (poor)

Additional comments on economic level of inhabitants: Low to mid

Typical Source of Financing: Other

Additional comments on financing:

Type of Ownership: Other

Additional comments on ownership:

Is earthquake insurance for this construction type typically available?: No

What does earthquake insurance typically cover/cost:

Are premium discounts or higher coverages available for seismically strengthened buildings or new buildings built to incorporate seismically resistant features?:

Additional comments on premium discounts:

Additional comments section 4:

Damage patterns observed in past earthquakes for this construction type: The main damage patterns consisted of fine cracks in infill walls, mainly starting from corners of openings and vertical fine cracks at wall corners.

Additional comments on earthquake damage patterns:

The main reference publication used in developing the statements used in this table is FEMA 310 “Handbook for the Seismic Evaluation of Buildings-A Pre-standard”, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C., 1998.

The total width of door and window openings in a wall is: For brick masonry construction in cement mortar : less than ½ of the distance between the adjacent cross walls; For adobe masonry, stone masonry and brick masonry in mud mortar: less than 1/3 of the distance between the adjacent cross walls; For precast concrete wall structures: less than 3/4 of the length of a perimeter wall.

Additional comments on structural and architectural features for seismic resistance:

Vertical irregularities typically found in this construction type: Other

Horizontal irregularities typically found in this construction type: Other

Seismic deficiency in walls: Inadequate thickness to resist gravity and seismic loads;inadequate wall density in one direction; the buildings are irregular both in plan and elevation; the total width of door and window openings in the walls is more than half of the distance between the adjacent cross walls.

Earthquake-resilient features in walls:

Seismic deficiency in frames:

Earthquake-resilient features in frame:

Seismic deficiency in roof and floors:

Earthquake resilient features in roof and floors:

Seismic deficiency in foundation: Structure does not contain a complete load path for seismic force effects from any horizontal direction that would serve to transfer inertial forces from the buildings to the foundation.

Earthquake-resilient features in foundation:

For information about how seismic vulnerability ratings were selected see the Seismic Vulnerability Guidelines

Additional comments section 5: High vulnerability

Additional comments on seismic strengthening provisions:

Has seismic strengthening described in the above table been performed?

Was the work done as a mitigation effort on an undamaged building or as a repair following earthquake damages?

Was the construction inspected in the same manner as new construction?

Who performed the construction: a contractor or owner/user? Was an architect or engineer involved?

What has been the performance of retrofitted buildings of this type in subsequent earthquakes?

Additional comments section 6:

• Brzev, S., Scawthorn, C., Charleson, A.W., and Jaiswal, K. (2012). GEM basic building taxonomy, Report produced in the context of the GEM Ontology and Taxonomy Global Component project, 45 pp.

• Cuban National Bureau of Standards (2013). Norma Cubana NC46: 2013, Construcciones sismoresistentes - Requisitos basicos para el diseno y construccon, 1. Edicion, January 2013, Officina Nacional de Normalizacion (NC), Habana, Cuba.

• Jaiswal, K.S., and Wald, D.J. (2008). Creating a global building inventory for earthquake loss assessment and risk management, U.S. Geological Survey Open-file report 2008-1160, 106 pp.

• Lang D.H., Meslem, A., Lindholm C., Blanco, G.M., Chang, K.L., Sanchez, D.C., and Alvarez, Z.R. (2015). Earthquake Loss Evaluation (ELE) for the City of Santiago de Cuba (Cuba), Report no. 15-015, Kjeller - Santiago de Cuba, October 2015, 90pp.

• Medina A., Escobar E., Ortiz G. Ramirez M., Duiaz L., Mondelo F., Montejo N., Rodriguez H., Guevara T. and Acosta J. (1999). Reconocimiento geologo-geofisico de la cuenca de Santiago de Cuba, con fines de Riesgo Sismico. Empresa Geominera de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba. 32 pp.

• Mendez I., Ortiz G., Aguller M., Rodriguez E., Llull E., Guevara T., Lopez T., Guilart M., Mustelier M., Gentoiu M. and Lay M. (2001). Base de datos digital de los levantamientos regionales de Cuba Oriental. Empresa Geologo-Minera de Oriente (E.G.M.O.) y Oficina Nacional de Recursos Minerales (O.N.R.M).

• Morejon Blanco, G., Leyva Chang, K., Candebat Sanchez, D., Rivera Alvarez, Z., Berenguer Heredia, Y., Villalon Semanat, M., Lang, D.H., and Meslem, A. (2015). Building Classification Scheme for the City of Santiago de Cuba (Cuba), Report no. 15-010, Kjeller - Santiago de Cuba, August 2015, 30 pp.

• SNIP (1963). Construction in Seismic Regions: Norms of Designing, SNIP II-A. 12-62, Moscow, 1963.