Degenkolb team assesses structural damage at the epicenter of Italy’s L’Aquila earthquake

On a remarkable six-day reconnaissance trip to the epicenter of Italy’s magnitude 6.3 earthquake that killed hundreds of people earlier this month, a specialized team of seismic experts from Degenkolb Engineers is assessing structural resilience in the town’s historic core, an area still predominantly off limits to the public and the media.

Under government escort, the team, headed by Chris Poland, chairman and CEO of Degenkolb, entered the 1-mile square in the center of historic L’Aquila to evaluate buildings that early reports had said were "destroyed."

"Aside from the high-profile collapses and major church damage, the overall performance of modern structures in the city center appears to be within ’Life-Safety’ limits but not yet inhabitable," said Andrew Scott, associate principal of Degenkolb. "In general, the damage is limited to frame infills and partition walls, which appeared to perform well as structural fuses and damping mechanisms, except where they collapsed into interior spaces."

"As structural engineers, we find the characterization ’destroyed’ to be grossly overstated," said Poland. "From the perspectives of the residents, however, the term ’destroyed’ appears closer and closer to the reality. Though many of the structures are actually intact, people’s ’homes’ are not, their spirits are not, and their livelihoods are not."

The high-profile Hotel Duca Degli Abruzzi was a classic ’soft-story’ structure—an older, reinforced concrete building with a completely open parking level underneath. The building collapsed in spectacular fashion, leaving a complex web of concrete, steel, and rubble filled with tantalizing clues to its demise. The challenge for Poland and his team will be to understand the clues to prevent similar occurrences at home and around the world.

Buildings in the area that have undergone retrofits, or what the Italians term "interventions," have experienced a range of success, from fairly unsuccessful to perfectly successful. These structures offer important lessons for retrofit efforts in the United States and will be a point of considerable interest for the Degenkolb team.

"As we continue to observe, continue to speak with residents, and continue to learn, it has become painfully clear that there is a gross disconnect between the performance we seek as engineers and the performance we expect as residents. As we move forward with this trip and with this experience, we will undoubtedly be searching to understand this disconnect and to seek its resolution," said Scott.

In addition to Poland and Scott, the team of Degenkolb Engineers includes Holly Razzano, principal, and Ricardo Hernandez, associate principal.

To follow the live blogging of Degenkolb engineers from L’Aquila, complete with pictures of the damage, visit www.degenkolb.com/blog/.