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On civil engineering disasters and their mitigation

  • Special Section: Tenth Anniversary of the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake
  • Published:
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Abstract

Civil engineering works such as buildings and infrastructure are the carriers of human civilization. They are, however, also the origins of various types of disasters, which are referred to in this paper as civil engineering disasters. This paper presents the concept of civil engineering disasters, their characteristics, classification, causes, and mitigation technologies. Civil engineering disasters are caused primarily by civil engineering defects, which are usually attributed to improper selection of construction site, hazard assessment, design and construction, occupancy, and maintenance. From this viewpoint, many so-called natural disasters such as earthquakes, strong winds, floods, landslides, and debris flows are substantially due to civil engineering defects rather than the actual natural hazards. Civil engineering disasters occur frequently and globally and are the most closely related to human beings among all disasters. This paper emphasizes that such disasters can be mitigated mainly through civil engineering measures, and outlines the related objectives and scientific and technological challenges.

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Acknowledgement

This work was jointly sponsored by the Scientific Research Fund of Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration (2016A05), Earthquake Scientific Research Fund (201508023) and a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51478441).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration, Harbin, 150080, China

    Lili Xie & Zhe Qu

  2. Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration, Harbin, 150080, China

    Zhe Qu

Authors
  1. Lili Xie
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  2. Zhe Qu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhe Qu.

Additional information

Supported by: Scientific Research Fund of Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration under Grant No. 2016A05, Earthquake Scientific Research Fund under Grant No. 201508023 and a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51478441

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Xie, L., Qu, Z. On civil engineering disasters and their mitigation. Earthq. Eng. Eng. Vib. 17, 1–10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11803-018-0420-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11803-018-0420-6

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