In my current role as a Structural Engineer with New Horizons Construction, I've been tasked with assessing and mitigating risks in many structural projects. One particularly challenging project involved the construction of a multi-storey residential building in a region prone to seismic activity.
As part of our risk mitigation strategy, we adopted an Earthquake-Resistant Design (ERD). We designed the structure to deform in a predictable and ductile manner, thus absorbing a significant amount of the seismic energy and preventing collapse. We identified the primary risks as structural instabilities due to inadequate stiffness and inadequate lateral strength. So, we used high-strength concrete and steel reinforcement to ensure structural rigidity, along with proper load distribution design.
The implementation of these measures helped us successfully construct a building that not only met all the safety regulations for structures in seismic-prone regions, but also delivered client satisfaction with an assurance of their investment's safety.