ATC-20-1 Bhutan Field Manual

ATC-20-1 Bhutan Field Manual

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Title: Development of Field Manual: Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings, Bhutan Edition (ATC-20-1 Bhutan)

Funding Provided By: World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the Applied Technology Council Endowment Fund

Developed By: the Applied Technology Council (ATC), GeoHazards International (GHI), and the Royal Government of Bhutan’s Department of Engineering Services (DES) and Department of Disaster Management (DDM)

Status: This document was completed in January 2015

Participants: To see a list of project participants, click here.

Final Product:

This document represents adaptations to the U.S. version of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual to account for Bhutan’s vernacular buildings, as well as Bhutan’s cultural and governmental context. During the development, a number of improvements were made to the presentation of material in the ATC-20-1 Field Manual, including a graphical format with numerous images to help engineers evaluate damaged buildings more accurately. Also, the procedures incorporate recent lessons learned during postearthquake safety evaluations following the Chile (2010) and New Zealand (2010-2011) earthquakes.

Sample pages from Chapter 6, Stone Masonry Buildings, showing the graphical format of the document. Table 6.1 is 13 pages long and presents damage conditions with photographs or illustrations.

An electronic copy of the document is not available online. To view the cover, title page, and table of contents, click here. If you wish to purchase a hard-copy version of the document, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

An overview of the project that developed the Field Manual was presented at the 10^th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering in Anchorage, Alaska in July 2015, and may be viewed here.

In accordance with the ATC-20 Methodology, forms for recording safety evaluation results for Rapid and Detailed Evaluations were developed for buildings in Bhutan. These forms are provided in A4 size in PDF format here.

After undergoing safety evaluation, buildings are posted with one of three placards: INSPECTED, RESTRICTED USE, or UNSAFE. These forms are provided in A4 size in PDF format here.

ATC-20-1 Bhutan Field Manual also presents interim procedures for advisory placarding of single-family homes. When this document was developed, Bhutan had limited resources for response and recovery. The Department of Disaster Management determined that the results of postearthquake safety evaluations should be provided as safety advisories for occupants of single-family homes. The Department is working to enhance response capacity and intends that the provisions in this appendix serve as an interim measure. The technical developers of this document, including the U.S.-Bhutan Project Engineering Panel, ATC, GeoHazards International, and Department of Engineering Services, believe that mandatory placarding, in which directives on placards are legally binding and enforceable, is essential for public safety. The technical developers strongly support efforts to move to mandatory placarding for all buildings as soon as possible. The procedures are presented in Appendix F of the document. The advisory placards for INSPECTED, RESTRICTED USE, and UNSAFE are provided in A4 size in PDF format here.

Welcome to the ATC Team!

Michael Valley

As a former Principal at Magnusson Klemencic Associates in Seattle, Mike Valley comes to ATC with more than 30 years of structural engineering experience in new design, evaluation and retrofit of existing buildings, applied research, and codes and standards development. Mike’s design experience includes the landmark Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, and his research and development experience includes the FEMA 356 Prestandard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings, FEMA P-2012 Assessing Seismic Performance of Buildings with Configuration Irregularities (ATC-123 Project), and NIST GCR 10-917-9 Applicability of Nonlinear Multiple-Degree-of-Freedom Modeling for Design (ATC-76-6 Project).

Mike also has extensive experience as an ATC consultant serving as a reviewer, a technical contributor, and Project Director on multiple ATC projects. We look forward to how Mike’s unique experiences as a successful team member will contribute to ATC projects in the future.

Michael Mahoney

Retired from federal service as a Senior Geophysicist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Mike Mahoney comes to ATC with more than 30 years of experience in hazard mitigation program management and policy development, post-disaster response and recovery, and problem-focused research and development in support of FEMA’s efforts under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP). He has led FEMA’s earthquake-related work with the International Code Council and has been involved with the development of national model codes and standards since 1984.

In his career at FEMA, Mike has led the development of countless major FEMA publications, including: FEMA 350 Recommended Seismic Design Criteria for New Steel Moment-Frame Buildings and its series of companion reports (ATC-41 Project series), FEMA P-58 Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Methodology and Implementation (ATC-58 Project series), FEMA P-695 Quantification of Building Seismic Performance Factors (ATC-63 Project), FEMA P-2018 Seismic Evaluation of Older Concrete Buildings for Collapse Potential (ATC-78 Project), and FEMA P-2090/NIST SP-1254 Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time (ATC-137 Project). With Mike’s extensive knowledge of federal government programs, and past collaboration with state and local agencies, hazard mitigation partners, and code development organizations, we look forward to how his unique experiences will help serve ATC’s client needs and objectives in the future.