Seismically safe structures

Safety and steel: seismically SAFE buildings!

DESIGN AND BUILD STEEL BUILDINGS IN SEISMIC ZONE AND SECURING EXISTING BUILDINGS

After the catastrophic seismic events in Umbria, Marche and Molise, institutions and public opinion have shown particular attention to the problem of protection against the earthquake for what concerns buildings.

The Authorities responsible for this purpose have consequently encouraged the development of new regulatory codes:

• Ordinance 3274/2003, First elements regarding general criteria for the seismic classification of the national territory and technical regulations for constructions in seismic areas, and subsequent amendments by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers;
• the Unitary Text of Technical Standards for Construction of 23 September 2005 by the Ministry of Infrastructure;
• the Guidelines for the application to the cultural heritage of the technical regulations referred to in the P.C.M. 3274/03 of the Department of Civil Protection;
• the Ordinance of the P.C.M 3519/2006, General criteria for the identification of seismic zones and for the formation and updating of the lists of the same zones (currently adopted and issued only by the Tuscany Region).
• Technical standards for constructions NTC 2008 and relative application circular.

Until the recent publication of: Technical Standards for Construction 2018.

At the local level, national legislation is complemented by regional laws and provisions which may also vary substantially from region to region.

The new NTCs include important innovations in the field of seismic area design. In particular, the evaluation of the seismic action is based on the most recent researches of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology which have made it possible to publish interactive maps of the seismic hazard of the Italian territory online.

By entering the coordinates and the design features of the site, it is possible to view and print graphs and tables relating to the calculation of the seismic action of the project pursuant to the D.M. 14.01.08 and of the NTC 2018.

Once again, the introduction of new design codes and standards, as a new moment of deepening and cultural growth, constitutes an opportunity for the construction world, for the purpose of improving quality and < strong> safety of the buildings themselves, as well as valid verification of the potential of the new standard.

In a similar context of reflection and in-depth analysis, sector operators, public administration technicians, universities, professional associations, builders and producers are involved.

Steel, today little used in Italy for the construction of civil and industrial buildings, has a further development opportunity, being able to provide the performance and safety guarantees that are now explicitly requested by the NTC 2018 and by the Eurocodes.