Pakistan-US CooperatiVE Program IN EARTHQUAKE-RELATED RESEARCH
 

Building Pakistan’s Capacity for Instruction, Research, and Practice in

PROGRESS REPORTS  2007 2008 2009

Earthquake Engineering and Retrofit   

Brian E. Tucker, GeoHazards International, Palo Alto
Sahibzada Rafeeqi, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi
Pakistani Funding (HEC):  $220,000
US Funding:    $241,595
Project Dates on US Side: February 1, 2007 - January 31, 2010,
       Extended through January 3, 2011

This project aims to improve Pakistan’s ability to reduce earthquake risk by building the capacity of its universities to teach and conduct research in earthquake engineering and transfer the knowledge needed to seismically retrofit essential structures to both new graduates and practitioners. The approach integrates formal instruction in theory with practice by using case studies of existing buildings typical of the local building stock. It recognizes that earthquake engineering exists in a broader societal context that balances safety with competing demands and values by employing multidisciplinary earthquake risk management decision-making processes. The project promotes sustainable academic interest in earthquake engineering research by encouraging cooperative research and professional relationships with American researchers through academic exchange, consultation on research topics that directly impact seismic safety in Pakistan, and creation of a Pakistan Earthquake Engineering Research Agenda. Throughout the project, participants will be applying the concepts learned through case studies of existing buildings, which will then, along with theory, form the basis for courses in seismic assessment and retrofit, comprising both practical training courses for practitioners and academic courses for students. American faculty members and practicing professionals are working with the Pakistani participants to develop, teach, evaluate, and revise these courses, which are being piloted in workshops for practicing professionals and as regular courses at NED University and other participating universities. After assessment and revision, courses for practitioners will be taught at six workshops with twenty participants each in Islamabad and five other cities to be determined. Several workshops will be held to build the capacity of additional faculty and students from participating institutions.

The project began when five US participants (Dr. Gregory Deierlein of Stanford University, Mr. David Mar of Tipping-Mar+Associates, Dr. Khalid Mosalam of the University of California Berkeley, Dr. Janise Rodgers of GHI, and Mr. L. Thomas Tobin of GHI) traveled to Pakistan July 21-28, 2007, to meet with their counterparts and visit several sites in Karachi, Islamabad, and the earthquake-affected areas in Rawalakot, Bagh, Chakothi, and Muzaffarabad. The purpose of the visit was threefold: beginning to develop the case studies, improving the existing curriculum, and meeting with project partners throughout the country. The case study development began with defining characteristic building types and training a selected group of graduate students and junior faculty to screen buildings rapidly. Curriculum improvement efforts began with determining how the project can help build on existing capacity in earthquake engineering in Pakistan's universities and benefit from the experiences of US universities such as the University of California Berkeley and Stanford. During the visit, the US research team met with Pakistani project partners in academia, private practice, and government. On July 21, 2007, the Pakistan Chapter of the American Concrete Institute organized and sponsored a seminar given by the U.S. research team members entitled "Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering and Applications to the Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings." The seminar was well-attended, attracting approximately 100 students, faculty, and practicing engineers.

The research team conducted similar activities when the participants from Pakistan visited the San Francisco Bay area in late October 2007 to interact with interested faculty and practicing engineers. Project leaders Prof. S. Rafeeqi and Prof. S. Lodi visited California for first-hand observation of seismic retrofit techniques, plus academic exchange with American researchers with the intent of encouraging future research collaboration and student exchange.

In 2008 progress on the project was slower than anticipated due to visa delays as well as funding delays on the Pakistani side. However, the case study teams made good progress on the initial group of six buildings, gathering information and drawings, developing computer models, and performing initial elastic analyses. In late October 2008, a 15-member team from Pakistan made a study visit to California. During the week-long visit, which was originally planned for July but rescheduled due to visa delays, the participants presented the results of their case study investigations to date, visited seismically retrofitted buildings, received instruction in nonlinear structural analysis, met with local practicing engineers and building officials, and toured laboratory facilities. The project team also met several times during the visit to complete the draft curriculum revisions and plan future project activities. The study visit was the only international travel during Year 2, however, as the American members of the project team were unable to travel due to the deteriorated security situation in Pakistan. Project participants continued meeting via videoconference, and investigated additional virtual collaboration tools to try to compensate for the lack of travel. Meanwhile, the project also had to deal with other challenges in 2008. NED University did not receive its Year 2 funds until well into the year, which hindered the Pakistani partners’ ability to work effectively. Despite these challenges, the NED project team made significant progress toward broadening the project’s participant base throughout the country.

In 2009 plans for several US participants to travel to Pakistan were again postponed due to security concerns, but regular e-mail, phone, and videoconferencing contacts continued. The number of building case studies was doubled, and by the end of the year 7 of 10 had been finished, with the rest to be completed in 2010. With regard to curriculum development, consensus recommendations have been drafted for national minimum standards for earthquake engineering education in Pakistan. The recommendations, which consist of the minimum basic earthquake engineering topics to be included in the civil engineering and architecture curricula, have been submitted to the National Curriculum Revision Committee (NCRC) at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for adoption.

Taking into account what they had learned over the course of the project, the NED team presented two training workshops for practicing engineers in 2009. The first was held at NED August 12-13, 2009, to serve participants from southern Pakistan, and the second was held at the Hotel Green Retreat in Nathiagali for engineers from the north. Both workshops included both technical presentations and hands-on practice in evaluating actual buildings. Throughout the year, undergraduate and graduate students at NED also had the opportunity to become involved in work on the case studies being carried out for the project. As a measure of the interest of the Pakistani authorities in the results of the project, the Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority has asked the NED team to participate in capacity building exercises related to assessing the seismic vulnerabilities of schools and hospitals in the province. In addition, four Pakistani members of the project team are serving on a Pakistan Engineering Council committee that is designing the methodology for training stakeholders on application of the country's 2007 seismic code.

In 2010 the project participants are planning to hold one joint meeting in a third country to be determined, as well as two training workshops on seismic retrofit in Pakistan. They will also complete development of training materials, case study reports, and instructional modules. Due to the delays that have been encountered, a no-cost extension has been made through January 31, 2011.

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