Title:
COMMON REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION DEFICIENCIES IN AFGHANISTAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS- A REVIEW ARTICLE

Authors:
Mojeeburahman Mashal, Afghanistan

Abstract:

Many parts of Afghanistan including densely populated cities such as Kabul are threatened by strong earthquakes. While earthquake destruction is mostly owed to the failure of civil engineering structures, deficient construction practice may further increase the susceptibility of structures to damage and even collapse. However, properly constructed buildings and other structures can help us minimize, if not completely eliminate, earthquake destructions. This review article discusses commonly shared important reinforced concrete building construction deficiencies in Afghanistan that are sufficiently critical that can compromise building integrity and structural performance of main force resisting systems during extreme loading conditions. The deficiencies elaborated further in this article include (1) Cutting/drilling of hardened concrete for inserting new member, (2) Confining infill walls -unintentional confined masonry type construction, (3) Offset columns between floors and Improper building framing, and (4) Inadequate footings/ foundations of buildings. The deficiencies are documented through visual inspection of numerous buildings during their construction. This article concluded that all of these critical deficiencies can result in increased vulnerability of these buildings during earthquakes. Such vulnerable buildings are likely to sustain excessive damage and even collapse during moderate to large earthquakes that will also be accompanied by increased causalities. Recommendations are made at the end to address reinforced concrete buildings construction deficiencies and ultimately to mitigate failure risk of buildings during extreme loading events.