RedR Talks: Seismic Retrofit of Reinforced Concrete Buildings
Earthquakes can significantly compromise the safety and performance of reinforced concrete buildings, creating complex challenges for engineers tasked with restoring and improving structural resilience.
Retrofitting offers an opportunity to address vulnerabilities exposed by seismic events, improve performance and reduce future risk.
In this talk, Dr Umut Akguzel, MIStructE, Technical Associate at Ramboll, will introduce the key principles and philosophy underpinning the seismic retrofit of reinforced concrete buildings. Drawing on practical experience and lessons from earthquake responses, including the March 2025 Mandalay earthquake, the session will explore how engineers approach retrofit decision-making and select appropriate strengthening strategies.
Assessment and decision-making are covered as the basis for retrofit choices, before the session turns to strategies and techniques. This includes how existing buildings are judged against reduced targets rather than new-build criteria, and how the performance objective is agreed with the client.
