Students from Three UPR Campuses Collaborate to Identify and Evaluate Buildings That Are Potentially Seismically Vulnerable

Taken from https://riseup.upr.edu/

As part of the activities of the interdisciplinary project Resilient Infrastructure and Sustainability Education – Undergraduate Program (RISE-UP), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the students of the program attended the Rapid Visual Screening conference presented by Dr. Ricardo López, professor at the Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. During the presentation, the Rapid Visual Screening method to quickly identify, inventory, and rate buildings according to their risk of collapse in the event of major earthquakes was discussed. The students also attended the lecture The Architecture of Seismic Design, presented by Dr. Drianfel Vázquez, professor of engineering at the University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. During the meeting, the seismic evaluation of buildings with various structural systems and configuration irregularities was discussed. In addition to this, several examples of structures that have suffered damage caused by earthquakes in different parts of the world were presented and discussed. The event, which took place at the University of Puerto Rico, Ponce Campus, gave space for, as a practical exercise, students to apply the concepts and knowledge acquired by evaluating different structures around the campus.

Later, during the afternoon session, a trip was made to Peñuelas, specifically to the track and indoor court of the Encarnación neighborhood, to make observations that would allow the work teams of the program to develop case studies related to the places visited. It should be noted that each group is made up of students from different disciplines and belonging to the three collaborating campuses in this initiative; Río Piedras, Mayagüez and Ponce.

Categories: RISE-UP