Confined Masonry 09 of 11: Seismic bands
Channel: confined masonry training
Date: 2018-02-26

Confined masonry is an earthquake resistant construction technique where the walls are built first and the concrete reinforcements are poured in afterwards. This series of videos explain how to build simple two-storey houses without the help of an engineer.
The confined masonry construction system has been developed empirically during the last century and has proven its worth during many earthquakes. Given its excellent behaviour and is ease of use it has aroused the interest of research labs all over the world. Construction professionals and researchers consider it an appropriate response to the needs of small-scale contractors and self-builders who are building important parts of the growing cities of poor and emerging countries.
This training material has been prepared by the architects and engineers of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Corps of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC in Ecuador in 2017. The houses shown in these videos have been built by the local NGO EcoSur.
For further information see http://www.confinedmasonry.org/