New Findings from University of Naples Federico II Update Understanding of Earth Science (Repair Costs of Existing RC Buildings Damaged by the…

Science Letter

New Findings from University of Naples Federico II Update Understanding of Earth Science (Repair Costs of Existing RC Buildings Damaged by the L'Aquila Earthquake and Comparison with FEMA P-58 Predictions)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Science Letter -- Fresh data on Science - Earth Science are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in Naples, Italy, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "Recent seismic events are a unique opportunity to monitor and collect details of direct repair costs and the downtimes associated with massive reconstruction processes. This paper focuses on the actual repair costs of five RC buildings damaged by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Naples Federico II, "The repair costs for structural and nonstructural components that experienced different types of earthquake damage are discussed and then used as a benchmark for the predictions. The comparison at both the building and component levels revealed that the FEMA P-58 methodology is suitable, in general, for application to different types of building stock. Ad hoc upgrades to the FEMA fragility database for components that are typical of the Mediterranean area are required. When implementing the proposed modifications, a reasonable level of consistency is achieved in terms of actual and predicted repair costs (differences in the range of 30-48%)."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "A discussion on the actual repair costs and the main differences with the predicted costs for infills and partitions, structural subassemblies, floor finishes, and other acceleration-sensitive nonstructural components is provided, along with suggestions for further improving."

For more information on this research see: Repair Costs of Existing RC Buildings Damaged by the L'Aquila Earthquake and Comparison with FEMA P-58 Predictions. Earthquake Spectra, 2018;34(1):237-263. Earthquake Spectra can be contacted at: Earthquake Engineering Research Inst, 499 14TH St, Ste 320, Oakland, CA 94612-1934, USA (see also Science - Earth Science).

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting C. Del Vecchio, Univ Napoli Federico II, Dept. of Struct Engn & Architecture, I-80125 Naples, Italy. Additional authors for this research include M. Di Ludovico, S. Pampanin and A. Prota.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1193/122916EQS257M. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Naples, Italy, Europe, Earth Science, Science, University of Naples Federico II.