Management of Building Collapse in Nigeria: A Lesson from Earthquake-Triggered Building Collapse in Athens, Greece

Abstract

Recent scientific outputs most especially those published by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRT) have drawn the attentions of researchers and Nigerian government to the myriad of building collapse and a need for the development of realistic and sustainable approach for the management of building collapse in Nigeria. Since then, a number of different explanations of how and why buildings collapsed in Nigeria have appeared. However, none of these have adequately focused on the most important issue, namely ‘what structural mechanisms led to the state which triggered the collapse’. In this paper, a case study of structural failure in the European monumental city of Athens where European model for the management of building collapse is fully implemented is considered. Structural Analysis Program (SAP) and pi-Design were used for the aseismic investigation and retrofits of the building. The result obtained from the analysis showed that the reduction in the stiffness and resulting friction of the ground floor slabs, and the load bearing columns were the main causes of the building collapse. The European methodology for the management of building collapse proved efficient. It provides the basis for developing countries to develop their own models for the management of building collapse.

Keywords: Management, building collapse, structural mechanisms, aseismic investigation, retrofits, stiffness, friction