Observations from Degenkolb Engineers – Building Performance in L’Aquila

From our observations of the reinforced concrete frame structures, we have frequently seen little damage to the concrete frames. There are occurrences of hollow clay tile that has undergone a shear mechanism or experienced out-of-plane failure due to lack of anchors at the top/bottom of the walls.

We have obtained the ground motion records from the 4 instruments in the area. Today we located one of the records.  Tomorrow, we intend to locate the remaining three instruments and to observe the earthquake damage at the San Salvatore Hospital. (Photos and captions by Ricardo Hernandez)

Figure 1. The Olimpia Hotel where the Degenkolb Reconnaisance team is staying in Avezzano, located XX miles from L’Aquila.		Figure 2. A uninhabited structure adjacent to our hotel. This building shows the typical use of a reinforced concrete frame(beam/column) with hollow clay tile infil.		Figure 3. A two-story residence with an rear exterior wall that has collapsed out-of-plane.
Figure 4. A picture of the city with a partial collapsed dome of a church in the background.		Figure 5. 5-story residential building that has end walls constructed of hollow clay tiles.		Figure 6. Close-up of Figure 5. Note the lateral movement of the hollow clay tile at the corner.
Figure 7. Photo of the rear of the Collegemaggio with the collapsed dome.		Figure 8. Close-up of collapsed dome at Collegemaggio. Note the “hanging” concrete beam with exposed longitudinal rebar. The concrete beam appears to have been a part of a roof replacement project after the origional construction of the building.		Figure 9. Rear of Santa Maria di Collegemario. Note the cracks eminating from the window corners.
Figure 10. Close-up of column illustrating a lack of reinforcement.		Figure 11. 6-story building with 3 stories tucked below grade on one side of the building.		Figure 12. Close-up of building. Not the shear cracks in the hollow clay tile exterior walls.
Figure 13. Close-up of end beam/column joint. There is a crack at the end of the beam, however, the joint is intact.		Figure 14. 3-story building with hollow clay tile exterior wall that has collapsed.		Figure 15. Close-up of the corner column. Note the exposed column reinforcing which has very little clear cover. There is no confinement provided through the joint, thus the joint has experienced severe damage.
Figure 16. Civil Protection officials, along with an inspector, escorting homeowners who are attempting to remove personal items from a damaged building.		Figure 17. Degenkolb reconnaissance team locates one of the four local strong motion recording instruments.		Figure 18. Building with an upper story collaped. Portions of the upper story fell upon the roof of the lower portion of the building causing severe damage.

	Figure 19. Close-up of interior beam/column joint. No noticeable damage to the joint.		Figure 20. Two-story masonry building. This building does not have a reinforced concrete frame(beam/column). The upper story masonry wall has sheared through around the corner of the wall. This crack was large enough to prevent shear resistance in the reversal cycle.