Even while survivors struggle through the grim process of removing bodies and debris left by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti on Jan. 12, relief organizations are mustering materials and skills to help Haitians rebuild their lives and economy. Photo: courtesy of GMI Prefabricated school unit is demonstration for proposed PET structural panels manufacturing plant in Haiti. Related Links: Haiti Quake Assessment is Small Step Toward Recovery Wrecked Port is No Barrier to Aid The World Economic Forum’s Disaster Relief Network is one group mobilizing aid to work on hospitals and orphanages in the villages of Duverger and Dandann,
After some bumps on the road to publication, the nation’s first code-intended commercial green building standard is available from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Use of Standard 189.1, which covers site location, energy use, recycling, water efficiency, indoor air quality, materials, resources and a building’s impact on the atmosphere, should result in a “greener” building than use of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA’s Standard 90.1-2007, says ASHRAE. ASHRAE, which developed 189.1 with the Illuminating Engineering Society and the U.S. Green Building Council, expects the new standard to be adopted into local building codes. Details about 189.1 are available at www.ashrae.org/greenstandard.
By the time they leave on Jan. 28, the 10 U.S. structural engineers sent to Haiti to assess the condition of buildings slightly damaged in the magnitude-7 earthquake will have done about 100 surveys. However, some 100,000 buildings still will need to be inspected so that the sound structures can be reoccupied, say local sources. Photo: Daniel O’neil, PADF High-end Oasis development, under construction, is undamaged, unlike an older completed building nearby (foreground). Photo: Eduardo Fierro, BFP Engineeers Inc. Light-metal roof of reinforcing-steel plant collapsed during the quake because it was not properly connected to the building’s reinforced-concrete columns. Related
Despite projections that it will take months to rebuild the primary, deep-draft port in Port au Prince, Haiti, construction and shipping industry representatives are confident they can pour loads of building materials and heavy equipment into the earthquake-damaged country. Photos: Seaboard Marine, a subsidiary of Seaboard Corp. (www.seaboardcorp.com), Merriam, Kansas. Haitian recovery efforts may hinge on shallow-draft ships like these unloading supplies. “The port being destroyed won’t be a hindrance to getting equipment in there, not if you have an experienced heavy lift operator who knows what they are doing,” says Jerry Nagel, CEO of U.S. operations for Rickmers-Linie, Hamburg,
State and federal regulators are closely monitoring conditions at the Trans Alaska Pipeline System following the discovery of a leak and a pair of shutdowns at Booster Pump Station 1. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the pipeline operator, says engineers this week re-started the 800-mile pipeline for a second time since the leak was located in the basement of the facility January 8. + Image Image map: Courtesy of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. The leak happened near pumping station 1 (seen on map as PS1). “The leak was discovered by one of the personnel during routine surveillance of the system,” says
Two years ago, Haiti hosted the first-ever disaster-reduction meeting, which was attended by more than 120 representatives of 21 nations of the greater Caribbean and 18 regional and international organizations. The November 2007 conference in Saint-Marc, called the “High-Level Conference on Disaster Reduction of the Association of Caribbean States,” produced a 27-point action plan for disaster reduction, which included a plea to make disaster-risk reduction a national priority. Related Links: Haiti Quake Recovery Planners Wait in Wings “Costly investments in infrastructure built in hazardous areas need to be protected, while the time needed for disaster recovery needs to be reduced,”
The leaders of the U.S. earthquake response effort in Haiti say they expect it will be “several weeks” before the effort shifts from a first-response life- support mission to planning for recovery, but when it comes, that phase “will involve all the military and civilian subject-matter experts.” Slide Show Photo: AP/Wideworld An excavator clears rubble of the Electricite de Haiti building in Port-au-Prince. Image: Unosat/Meti&NASA 2009 Density of post-quake bridge, road blockages in Port-au-prince on Jan. 13, 2010 Related Links: Quake Was Too Much for Recent Disaster-Reduction Efforts But a week after the Jan. 12 quake, the answer to how
A contracting executive has set up a special fund to help Haiti and has pledged to match up to $1 million of contributions with his own money. James S. Ansara, chairman, founder and former CEO of Shawmut Design & Construction, Boston, has set up a new fund through The Boston Foundation in that city. The foundation has created The Haiti Fund, to finance immediate efforts to execute short-term relief efforts and for long-term rebuilding. About 25% of the total will be earmarked immediately to procure much-needed materials, fuel, equipment and personnel for infrastructure and for construction of needed medical facilities,
Located along a fault line, the capitol of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, was the heart of the island nation. Now the heart is broken and any attempt to restore the country must revolve around its rebuilding. Photo: AP /Julie Jacobson A man preaches for people to repent outside a cathedral Jan. 14, in Port au Prince. .“Port-au-Prince is Haiti, and Haiti is Port-au-Prince,” says Bryant C. Freeman, perhaps the leading expert on Haiti in the U.S. He says the city and the country were heading in the right direction in recent years as decades of dictatorial oppression and violence faded away under
The Jan. 12 quake that struck Haiti made a shambles of the cargo-handling facilities of the port of Port-au-Prince, a U.S. Coast Guard assessment team reported late Friday. The port, which faces the Caribbean Sea and the eastern tip of Cuba about 175 miles to the west, includes cranes, large berths, and warehouses. The Coast Guard and U.S. Navy are trying to see what will have to be done to get it back in service to assist in the delivery of aid. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Damage to Port-au-Prince’s port is extensive. The team said five cargo cranes are damaged,
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