Chile Considers Concrete Code Changes

The good news for Chileans is that less than 1% of the 10,000 buildings three stories or taller, constructed since Chile’s 1985 earthquake, will have to be demolished as a consequence of the magnitude-8.8 Maule earthquake that struck on Feb. 27. The bad news is that the type of structural damage observed in many of the bearing-wall concrete frames of 12- to 26-story buildings is calling into question the effectiveness of Chile’s building code, which does not require confinement reinforcing steel for concrete members. A code change in the future is likely, say engineers who inspected the damaged areas.