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A new hospital in Ecuador, reconstructed following its destruction during a 2016 earthquake, will be far better able to survive future seismic events thanks to the 156 seismic isolators on which it has been built
The general hospital of the city of Chone in western Ecuador, destroyed during a large earthquake in April 2016, required to be rebuilt with two major priorities: the reconstruction should be as quick as possible to enable it to resume serving the local population, and the new building should be able to withstand any similar seismic events in the future – thereby protecting lives, saving reconstruction costs, and avoiding loss of service when it is needed most.
In order to meet these objectives, it was decided to isolate the building from future violent ground movements by supporting it on isolator bearings. Of the various types of seismic isolators available, which also include LRBs and HDRBs, isolators of the pendulum type were preferred considering the project’s specific needs. 156 pendulum seismic isolators of type RESTON®PENDULUM were selected for use (of the DUPLO variety, with two curved sliding surfaces for translation – one above and one below the central rotation unit). Two further units were fabricated for prototype testing, which was conducted at Sismalab in Italy, to verify seismic performance in advance of use. Following design of the seismic isolators by mageba to meet all requirements, and fabrication in mageba’s Shanghai factory, they were shipped to site in closed containers and installed under mageba supervision – ensuring proper performance of these vital protective devices when the next earthquake strikes the region.
Building owner: Ministry of Public Health
Building designer: Consulsismica Sísmica Ingenieros Consultores Cia. Ltda.
Construction contractor: China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd.