Locals learn quake-proof construction

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, The Jakarta Post, Padang Pariaman | Mon, 03/15/2010 8:32 AM

The violent 7.9-magnitude earthquake that jolted West Sumatra in September last year destroyed hundreds of thousands of houses and other buildings, highlighting poor construction standards.

A survey by the University of Indonesia in the early weeks of the disaster found that most of the toppled houses had no steel reinforcement to support the brick walls. A local confirmed this, adding that in many houses, bricks were offset in an orderly stack.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post recently, 41-year-old construction worker Maryunis said that builders had been constructing houses in Padang Pariaman regency using “any means they knew”.

But with the bitter quake experience, Maryunis and many others in Padang Pariaman are now seeking to learn better construction methods that will make their houses safer should another quake hit the tectonically volatile area.

More than 100 locals have received training on how to build affordable, earthquake-proof houses, with another 25 to receive training this week.

The training is conducted by Build Change, an international not-for-profit social enterprise that designs earthquake-resistant houses.

At a busy construction site just behind a community office in the Sintuk Toboh Gadang subdistrict of Padang Pariaman, dozens of men build an annex office.

Participants of Build Change’s training, the men practice their newly learned skills: Two use their shovels to mix cement using the right composition.

Others try their hand at putting up a brick wall against a concrete footing they had previously laid out. Facilitators from Build Change monitor the activity, at times showing the men how to put enough mortar between two bricks.

Maryunis said, “The builders here usually skimp on the mortar.”

Build Change program coordinator Moslem explained that construction workers in the area worked in teams.

“They usually learn their skills from team leaders who learned from previous leaders. So the same incorrect construction methods are continuously propagated,” he added.

Moslem pointed out a structure: two concrete walls under a big tree. Only a couple on inches thick, the walls are not made of bricks, but of thick wire mesh plastered with concrete.

“We also teach them to build walls using this technique. This is safer than bricks, which could collapse when a major earthquake hits, and from the outside, it looks like an ordinary, permanent brick wall after we paint it,” he said.

Building a 36-square-meter house using this technique costs less than Rp 40 million (US$3,800), Moslem said, adding that a permanent house built using Build Change’s standard would cost between Rp 50 million to 60 million.

Moslem said homeowners could choose between using wire mesh or woven bamboo to make semipermanent walls.

“Both materials can be plastered with concrete, but given its elasticity, it is harder with woven bamboo,” he added.

He also said that while people in several areas in Padang Pariaman implemented the construction techniques taught by the organization, many others were not aware that materials other than bricks could be used to construct walls and that would be esthetically similar.

Maryunis said he planned to teach his new skills to fellow construction workers in his hometown, Toboh Mesjid village.

“It won’t be easy. They have been using the same methods for years and I don’t think they would be willing to adopt a new one.”

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