Report: 197

Building Type: Unconfined 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: Unreinforced fired brick masonry, cement mortar (timber flooring, timber or steel beams and columns, tie courses (bricks aligned perpendicular to the plane of the wall)

Length of time practiced: 76-100 years

Still Practiced: Yes

In practice as of: Mainly before 1985/1990

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: Unreinforced Masonry Walls: Brick masonry in mud/lime mortar

Additional comments on structural system: Gravity: Unreinforced masonry walls; the loads from the roof are transferred to the walls and to the foundations; there is generally no proper connection between the walls; no reinforcement or bands are usedLateral: Unreinforced masonry walls; the walls have a very low resistance to out-of-plane forces; in most cases, there is no proper connection between the roof and the 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: Other floor system

Additional comments on floor system: Wood planks or beams that support clay or zinc tiles

Type of Roof System: Wooden structure with light roof covering

Additional comments on roof system: Wood planks or beams that support clay or zinc tiles

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?: No

Applicable codes or standards:

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: 60 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

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: Some damage was observed during moderate earthquake; main damage patterns consisted of long cracks in the walls.

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: Exterior walls are not anchored for out-of-plane seismic effects at each diaphragm level with metal anchors or straps.The total width of door and windows openings in walls is more than half of the distance between the adjacent cross walls; the roof diaphragm is not considered to be rigid and it is not expected that the roof structure will maintain its integrity.

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: Vertical load-bearing walls are not attached to the foundations.

Earthquake-resilient features in foundation:

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

Additional comments section 5: Moderate to 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.