Photos of neglect

Asst. Prof. Dr. Egemen Sönmez, Lecturer at Department of Civil Engineering, Izmir University of Economics (IUE), went to the earthquake zone with a team of 30 and examined the destroyed and damaged buildings. Staying in the area for a week, Asst. Prof. Dr. Sönmez photographed the mistakes he saw in the damaged buildings one by one. Stating that although the quality of material was not bad, many new buildings were damaged or demolished due to application and project errors, Asst. Prof. Dr. Sönmez said, “The quality of concrete and iron does not necessarily indicate that the building is solid. We saw this clearly, especially in new buildings. Mistakes and defects brought about by the desire to reduce cost and time rendered many buildings unusable that could survive the earthquake unscathed.”

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) Post-Disaster Reconnaissance Committee formed a team to examine the structural damage caused by the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that occurred in Kahramanmaraş on February 6. About 30 academics and civil engineers working in universities abroad as well as in Turkey went to the region about 2 months after the earthquake disaster. Asst. Prof. Dr. Egemen Sönmez from Department of Civil Engineering represented Izmir University of Economics in the team, which focused on Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Gaziantep, where the earthquake caused great damage.

LACK OF TRANSVERSE REINFORCEMENT CAUSED DAMAGE

Sharing his observations in the earthquake zone, Asst. Prof. Dr. Sönmez said, “The main purpose of the visit was to identify possible building behaviors that will cause changes in earthquake regulations. It was a very useful visit, which gave us the opportunity to make a deep analysis. In the investigations we made in the region, we unfortunately saw many mistakes and bad practices. Many buildings with the design and material quality that could survive the earthquake undamaged or with slight damage were severely damaged due to deficiencies and mistakes in implementation. For example, because the concrete was not placed well, voids were formed. This reduced the strength of the building. The transverse reinforcement, which prevents the buckling of the column bars in the event of a jolt, were not used in sufficient numbers and frequently. Many buildings were built so close to each other that they crashed into each other, causing damage.”

‘HOLLOW BLOCK’ and ‘BAND WINDOW’ DETAIL

Asst. Prof. Dr. Sönmez continued as follows: “In the shops on the ground floor, the partition walls have been removed without any calculations or not installed at all. This is what we call 'soft floor'; it caused the ground floor to collapse first, and then the entire building. A half wall was built between the ground floor columns to form a band window. In other words, half of the wall that should have been next to the column has been turned into a window. This negatively affected the strength of the column and caused the entire building to collapse or become unusable. The flooring system, which was made to obtain a flat ceiling and called 'hollow-block' in the market, did not show the expected behavior and caused more damage to the structure. Although earthquake regulations allow the use of this type of flooring in earthquake zones under very limited conditions, this has not been complied with. In addition to these, unfortunately, I have also seen electrical installations or chimney pipes run through beams, columns or curtain walls. Why would anyone cut the iron of the structural elements that keep the building standing to pass pipes? Impossible to understand. Unfortunately, earthquakes do not forgive negligence, which we do without considering the painful consequences.”

COMPETENT ENGINEERING EMPHASIS

Stating that some regulations should be made in Turkey, especially in the field of ‘competent’ engineering, Asst. Prof. Dr. Sönmez said, “Just as a doctor specializes in his field and gains competence, it should be the same for civil engineers. Civil engineers can be given comprehensive specialty exams after they have attained a certain level of experience. In this way, civil engineers can be authorized to do certain types of projects after proving that they specialize in a certain subject. I think that regulations can be made for this type of licensed (competent) engineering in our country. This will have very beneficial results for the future of the civil engineering profession. It will also be very useful for the construction managers to work in only one construction and to have their competencies certified. In addition, a more controlled operation of the building control system should be ensured.”