ASSIGNMENT ON

Survey of Earthquake resisting building construction work practices

in Sylhet City.
Course Title: - Details of Construction
Course Code: - CE-200
Submitted To:
Md. Aminul Haque
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Leading University, Sylhet
Submitted By:
Name
Ahmed Bin Ragib
Israt Jahan Rima
Asaduzzaman Sayef
Mohammad Shehab Bhuiyan
Amitav Samantha Anik

ID No
1412060012
1412060026
1412060038
1412060048
1412060060

Group: 4
Section: B
nd
2 Year 1st Semester
Department of Civil Engineering
Leading University, Sylhet
Date of Submission - 22/06/2015

Contents

Topics

Page

Abstract

Introduction

3-4

Study Area
Data Analysis

5
6-7

Report Analysis

Discussion

Conclusion

10

N. B.: Attachment Survey Reports

Page | 2

Abstract
Sylhet is the northeastern region of Bangladesh and probability of earthquake in Sylhet is
higher than other areas of this zone. Among the 27 wards 09 & 10 No. wards is the project
Wards in Sylhet city. It was clear from the survey work, 87% buildings are belongs to build
for residential, and 13% building are both commercial and residential.The average
urbanization rate of the division is 14.76%. The Occurrence of an earthquake of PGA value
0.8g on those wards causes massive loss of lives and damage to buildings.

Introduction 1
Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to seismic activity. Bangladesh is known as an
earthquake prone country due to its geological location. Expert says a moderate tremor will
cause thousands of buildings collapse only in Sylhet city and we all know what happened
when Rana Plaza collapsed on 24 April 2013.

Page | 3

By the initiative of human casualty, damages of Bangladesh Government, a seismic zoning

map of Bangladesh was prepared in 1993. The country is divided into three zones. The most
severe zone is the zone no. 3, which includes the north and northeastern parts of the country.
Sylhet is the northeastern region of Bangladesh and probability of earthquake in Sylhet is
higher than other areas of this zone. But most of the population and policy makers do not
perceive seismic risk to be important.
The major works behind the construction of residential building in Bangladesh are mostly
done by the informal sector like masons, bar-binders, plumbers who are employed by the
owners or builders. This workforce neither has academic lessons nor any formal training.
While the earthquake resistant building design and construction code has been developed in
sophisticated national/city level, the implementation at the local level has been more of an
exception than the rule. Government also takes initiatives towards improving seismic
performance of new constructions by incorporation of seismic design in the building
construction process. People used to make their houses by local materials and local
construction technique without any engineering philosophy especially in rural areas.
Specialists are expecting a severe earthquake in this area in near future, which will cause
serious infrastructure and other losses. Therefore, there is an imminent need to know the
actual physical condition of the rural houses and to estimate the risk associated with them.
A physical survey has been done on the existing building construction work condition of the
Sylhet city. From this information the problems are identified with respect to earthquake
resistant non-engineered housing technique. These techniques may be the guidelines to the
people for making low cost earthquake resistant house and also will make a pointer towards
engineered building from non-engineered construction.

Page | 4

STUDY AREA
In our survey work, we have covered two words in Sylhet City Corporation. The ward is
Ward-09 (Akhalia, Baghibari, Danukhter, Kuliapar, Kanisail, Modina Market, Nehari Para,
Pathan Tola, Sagardigir Par), and Ward-10 (Dhar, Gasitala, Kalapara, Majumder Para, Molla
Para, Nabab Road, Wapda)

Fig: Picture of the all words of Sylhet City Corporation

All of these areas have both commercial and residential buildings. There are many schools,
colleges and universities in those areas. Main roads are wide but the connecting roads are
respectively narrow. The high raised building construction is ongoing. There are medical
colleges, health center and governmental offices within the surveyed area. So after all, the
area was very important that we have surveyed.

Data Analysis
Page | 5

According to survey, the data is:

Percentages out of 8
under-construction
buildings

Criteria

1. Type of foundation

RCC pile
Raft
Isolated Footing
Combined Footing
Strip Footing
Timber Pile
Sand pile

40%
0%
60%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Regular

87%

Irregular

13%

Residential
Commercial
Both
Religious

87%
0%
13%
0%

Yes

60%

No

40%

Beam slab

87%

Flat slab

13%

Flat plate

0%

Tie

87%

Conceal

13%

8. Shape of building

9. Type of building

4. Soft story

6. Type of slab

9. Type of beam

7. Beam stirrup

Hook 3

Placement of Stirrup

Yes

50%

No

50%

Yes

87%

Page | 6

Joint
(at top of the beam &
alternate position)

No

13%

Yes

60%

No

40%

Yes

87%

No

13%

Hook 3
8. Column Tie

9. Length of Lapping of

Column Main Bar( 18)

10. Placement of Tie at

Column-Beam Joint

11. Hook of Beams Main

Bar at Column-Beam Joint
(12D i.e. for
# 5 is 7.5
# 6 is 9)

12. Continuous Lintel

16. Supervision by

Engineer

Placement of Tie Joint

(alternate position with
each other)

Yes

87%

No

13%

Yes

60%

No

40%

Yes

100%

No

0%

Yes

50%

No

50%

Yes

25%

No

75%

Page | 7

Report analysis
The result of the study was pretty good. From the above data analysis and pie charts below
us can understand the ultimate result.
Quality of Construction Work

Medium; 35%

Good; 40%

Low; 25%

We have found from the data was like this graph, it was quite satisfactory that all among the
building 40% of the building are good, 35% building are medium and 25% building are low
quality work done. For quality construction work need supervision engineer who maintain
the work properly and maintain the quality work according to the BNBC code. During the
survey we have found 100% construction project is supervised by engineer. But we did not
find any of the government audits in the construction site in the Sylhet City which is
unexpected. The monitoring of the government is 0%.

Page | 8

Discussion
The counteracts of the construction work

Lack of proper maintenance of construction rules in the fields

Absence of site Engineer in the construction work site
Appointment of uneducated contractors and workers
Owners time to time decision changing about construction work
Supplement of low quality of building materials
Lack of proper knowledge of contractors and workers about construction work
Vulnerable lapping of reinforcement in column and beam
Deductions of proper hook (3) at column tie and beam stirrup
Implement of backward shuttering materials
Deduction of tie bar at column-beam joint
The design of beams, slabs, columns and other infrastructures is not maintained
properly with building design code

The salvation of the construction work

Construction rules should be followed properly in the field
Supervision of Engineer should be provided in the construction site
Arrange a campaign for unskilled worker for good construction work
Owner should take proper and right decision before building design
Owner should provide good quality of building material
Building design should be created according to building codes and guidelines that are
backed by seismology and engineering knowledge.
The sharing of scientific knowledge and technological developments about building
construction should be developed
Identification of both gaps and priorities by sharing of knowledge and experience in
the field of seismology and earthquake engineering should be developed
Awareness should be raised among public, to ensure earthquake resisting building
design

Page | 9

Conclusion
Earthquake in Sylhet region is inevitable. So, people should take the maximum preparation
to minimize the losses due to earthquake. Proper planning, designing and constructing
buildings are the best preparations to manage the disaster. Peoples awareness about impacts
and remedies of earthquake should be increased. Government, NGOs, specialists, journalists,
media people and all of us should work together for that just from today. It is not an easy task
to assess probable seismic damage without economic support and authorization. However,
the database created in this work lays with the overall construction work for dealing with
seismic hazard analysis. We have worked on old part of Sylhet which is a very important
residential area in Sylhet city. From our study it is observed that the occurrence of an
earthquake on ward no. 09 & 10 may causes massive loss of lives and damage to buildings.

Page | 10