Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, De La Salle, University, Manila, Philippines, Tel. 5244611,
Email: andres.oreta@dlsu.edu.ph
2
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, De La Salle, University, Manila, Philippines, Tel. 5244611,
Email: renan.tanhueco@dlsu.edu.ph
3
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, De La Salle, University, Manila, Philippines, Tel. 5244611,
Email: lessandro.garciano@dlsu.edu.ph
Abstract
The task of a civil engineer includes provision of safe, reliable and comfortable infrastructures for
housing, transport, communication, water supply and sanitation, energy, commercial and industrial
activities to meet the needs of a growing population. Today, there is an increasing demand for civil
engineers to focus their efforts on the protection and preservation of the environment. With the
increase in severity and frequency of natural disasters that devastated both developing and advanced
countries, planning, design and construction of infrastructures that are safe for people and at the
same time reduce their impact on further deterioration of the environment becomes a major
challenge. Civil engineers who are experts in the various fields of specialization in structural
engineering, transportation engineering, water resources engineering, geotechnical engineering and
construction engineering must embed in their tasks disaster risk reduction especially in hazard-prone
regions for when they do this, they not only address safety but also sustainability two important
issues for maintaining the balance and harmony between the built and natural environment. This
paper presents a research and action framework for civil engineers researchers and practicing
engineers. Sample abstracts of researches on DRR at De La Salle University are also presented.
Keywords: Safety, Sustainability, Infrastructure Development, Hazard, Disaster Risk Reduction,
Civil Engineering
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
air. Water resources engineers design innovative ways of providing safe potable drinking
water. Infrastructures are designed and constructed to utilize water for irrigation and for
producing safe energy. Flood control structures are put in place to protect people and
property from the harmful effects of flooding.
1.2 Addressing Sustainability.
Civil engineers shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the
performance of their duties. Sustainable development was first defined in 1987 by the
Brundtland Commission as development that meets the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their needs. In the 1992, Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, sustainable development was defined as an economic process that can be
maintained long-term in line with the earths carrying capacity. Today sustainability is
seen in three-dimensions, namely ecological, economic and socio-cultural [1]. Ecological
sustainability is focused on three goals:
1) Protection of human health deals with human toxicity of building materials, reduction of
pollutants, sick building syndrome among others
2) Protection of the ecosystem includes waste avoidance, reduction of emissions and
pollutants and proper and efficient land use, and
3) Protection of natural resources deals with resource efficiency, energy use and recycling.
Ecological sustainability is related to infrastructure development. Civil engineers, being
major stakeholders in infrastructure development and the construction industry, must
practice activities in construction that contribute to ecological sustainability. Aside from
increasing the structure's serviceability, durability and reliability throughout its entire life,
construction must also address the following goals [2]:
Decrease exhausting of primary raw materials and energy,
Regulate consumption of renewable resources, and
Decrease the amount of harmful emissions and wastes.
These goals do not only apply in construction but also in the various projects and activities
of civil engineers.
Natural
Environment
Climate Change
Natural
Hazards
Risk
Outputs of
Development
Built
Environment
SUSTAINABILITY:
Wasted Energy
Depleted Resources
Debris
Extreme
Hazards
DISASTER
Vulnerabilities
Disaster
Impact
SAFETY:
Human losses
Material Damage
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
the same time produces natural hazards that threaten the built environment. Achieving safety
and sustainability is a major challenge in regions or countries that are vulnerable to adverse
natural hazards like earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanic eruptions, drought and tsunamis.
Infrastructures, if vulnerable to these hazards, become inoperable making them useless.
Many buildings and bridges have collapsed in the past due to strong earthquakes and
tsunamis. Traffic leads to a standstill when roads and highways become flooded. Water
infrastructures become ineffective during water shortages due to drought. When these
disasters occur, the quality of life and safety of the people are affected. Safety from harm
due to collapsed buildings, safety from accidents during travel from office to homes and
lack of safe drinking water are examples of the impact of disasters on safety in hazard-prone
regions. Table 1 shows the impact of various types of hazards on (a) urban infrastructure,
(b) human health and safety, and (c) vulnerable communities/urban poor. These impacts of
hazards are directly related to the safety of the people and affect the infrastructures.
Table 1. Impact of Hazards
GEOPHYSICAL HAZARDS
Hazards
Urban infrastructure
& Built Environment
Vulnerable Communities
Earthquakes
Displacement of coastal
communities
Displacement of communities
near volcanoes
Landslides
Tsunamis
Volcanic eruptions
Urban infrastructure
& Built Environment
Vulnerable Communities
Temperature change;
heat/cold waves
Drought
Displacement of informal
settlers
Forced migration Relocation
Displacement of communities in
low lying coastal areas and
near rivers
Extreme precipitation
patterns & flooding
Storm surge
Saline intrusion:
effects on drinking
water
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
Tsunami (227898 deaths) and the 2010 Haiti earthquake (316000 deaths). Figures 2(c) and
(d), however, shows a gloomy trend. The number of affected people and the economic costs
due to the reported disasters are increasing. The reported economic damages from the 2011
Great East Japan or Tohoku earthquake was US$ 214 billion followed by damages due to
Hurricane Katrina of US$ 182 billion. The increase in the number of affected people and
damage costs may be attributed to the larger exposure and high vulnerability of the
community, infrastructures and investments to the hazards.
Sustainability is also at stake in hazard-prone regions. Disasters lead to wastage of
resources and energy and produces debris which contributes to environmental deterioration.
The large amount of disaster-caused waste and debris poses another environmental problem.
Debris removal is a major component of every disaster recovery operation. Soil, building
material, and green waste, such as trees and shrubs, make up most of the volume of disaster
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
debris. Disposal of hazardous materials complicates the problem. The most severe natural
disasters generate debris in quantities that can overwhelm existing solid waste management
facilities or force communities to use disposal options that otherwise would not be
acceptable. The volume of debris from past earthquakes are 15 million tonnes from the
Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake, 20 million tonnes from the 2008 Sichuan
earthquake, and 10 million m3 found in Indonesia alone following the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami [4]. The debris of 20 to 25 million tonnes from the 2011 Great East Japan
earthquake is said to be15 times the annual waste production of the three most affected
prefectures - Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi. In the port town of Ishinomachi, the tsunami
waste was equivalent to 100 years of collection [5]. Managing the disaster debris following
disasters in a post disaster recovery effort takes times and is costly. For example,
management of the tsunami debris of 1.35 million tonnes at Sendai city costs 92.5 Billion
Yen or US$ 1.15 Billion [6].
IMPACTS
IMPACTS
Addressing safety and sustainability issues in hazard-prone regions like the Philippines is a
challenge. However, by understanding the critical factors that contribute to disasters, a
framework for research and action for civil engineers can be formulated. The risk model:
Risk = Hazard x Elements at Risk x Vulnerability
simplifies our understanding of the cause of disasters. Figure 3 shows that the frequency and
intensity of a disaster depends on the
HAZARD-PRONE REGIONS
magnitude or scale of the hazard and
degree of vulnerability of the elements at
NATURAL HAZARDS
risk (people, assets, infrastructures).
Vulnerability is a function of physical,
Frequency & Intensity of Disaster
social, economic, environmental and
political factors but in the case of
VULNERABILITIES
infrastructures, vulnerability is related to
the degree of safety and sustainable
features provided.
DEGREE OF
SAFETY
PROVIDED
SUSTAINABILITY
FEATURES
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
(c) Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction. Assess the risk to the hazard and identify how
the risk can be reduced by implementing risk reduction strategies. Risk reduction
involves decisions and actions addressing the following strategies:
Prevention Reduce or Avoid the hazard
Mitigation Reduce the vulnerabilities to the hazard
Adaptation Build capacity and resilience to the hazard
If we integrate DRR in the planning, designing, constructing and management of
infrastructures, then we will address safety and sustainability issues as shown in Figure 4.
Hence researches that aim to
reduce or avoid hazards and
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
reduce vulnerabilities on
REDUCE/AVOID
REDUCE
infrastructures and the
+
HAZARDS
VULNERABILITIES
community will lead to
reduction of disaster risks.
SAFETY
REDUCED
SUSTAINABILITY
Reduced disaster risks leads to
DISASTER
IMPROVED
INCREASED
safer structures and improved
RISKS
safety to the people. Reduced
disaster risks also leads to
PEOPLE
HUMAN HEALTH
sustainability since there will
ASSETS
RESOURCES
be less damage to
INFRASTRUCTURES
ECOSYSTEM
infrastructures and less wastage
PROTECTED ELEMENTS
of resources and less impact to
Figure 4. Role of DRR on Safety & Sustainability
the people which translates to
better living conditions. When we protect our people, assets and infrastructures, we increase
the peoples resilience and health, preserve our resources and maintain the balance between
built and natural environment.
DRR research in civil engineering must be promoted in the academe. Depending on the
hazard, various researches that focus on the three phases of DRR hazard assessment,
vulnerability assessment and risk assessment and reduction must be conducted. There are
various DRR strategies which can be investigated by researchers. Here are some examples:
Flood risk reduction hazard maps, land use management, flood forecasting, early
warning systems, flood control structures, evacuations from lowlands, expanded
flood plain areas, emergency flood reservoirs, preserved areas for flash flood water,
improved construction techniques, upgrading and rehabilitation of waterways,
declogging of sewerage canals, proper disposal of garbage and waste
Seismic risk reduction hazard maps, land use planning, resistant designs and
construction, building regulations and permitting systems, enforcement of urban
plans and building codes, seismic assessment and retrofitting of existing structures,
relocation from hazard-prone areas (fault-zones, coastal areas, unstable slopes, cliffs,
soft soil), early warning from tsunami, awareness and preparedness education
Landslide monitoring and mitigation risk mapping, environmental management,
GIS mapping on morphology, hydrogeology, land use and soil type; and
development of alternative land-use plans, soil stabilization, awareness programs
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
Figure 6. Framework for Seismic Risk Assessment (Brizuela and Oreta [13])
Study on the Effects of Land Use Changes to the Urban Hydrology of Tarlac City,
Tarlac [14]
The study aims to estimate the storm run-off potential of small-watersheds draining to
the Masalasa Creek utilizing the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) curve
number hydrology methods under several hypothetical design rainfalls (5, 10,25, 50, 100
year return periods). The curve numbers were estimated for different land use zone
categories under existing land uses and the approved future land uses in Tarlac City.
Hydrographs generated between the two scenarios at different junctions and outlet points
of smaller creeks draining to the Masalasa creek revealed small differences. Inadequate
pipe culvert segments of Tarlac Citys drainage network near the central business area
were also identified utilizing EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM 5.0) for
different hypothetical single rainfall events (24 hrs). Studies are continued to make use
of LIDAR based terrain models and two-dimensional flood models to refine results. The
study was pursued to provide an assessment on Tarlac citys flooding problems.
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
Risk Analysis of Power Supply Due to Extreme Floods in San Juan, Surigao City,
Philippines [15]
The power supply system and its network components are at risk due to extreme floods.
Although various adaptive measures can reduce this risk, the infrastructure connected to
the substation are still at risk to extreme inundation primarily because of its elevation,
thus rendering the adaptation measures inadequate. In this paper, the authors use
geographic information technology to quantify
the risk of power loss to the consumers and the
ensuing economic loss to the power producer
considering various extreme inundation events.
These extreme flood events were based on
hypothetical rainfall with return periods of 2, 5,
10, 25 and 50 years (Figure 7). Specifically, the
authors developed a risk curve for the power
supply system in barangay San Juan, Surigao
City, Surigao Del Norte, Philippines. The study
shows that the percentage of households
vulnerable to extreme floods for each return
period are 22, 91, 93, 94 and 96. This power
outage translates to a potential money loss
Figure 7. 50-year return period for
range from US$ 1800 to US$ 36,000 for the
flood depths
power provider.
(Garciano et al [15])
4. CONCLUSION
Civil engineers must address the following safety
and sustainability issues and concerns in hazard-prone countries to realize safe and
sustainable infrastructure development. The safety and sustainability problem in hazardprone regions can be summarized by the following key points:
Disaster risk increases when a growing population and increasing investments are
exposed or located in hazard-prone regions.
Disaster risk reduction must be embedded in the planning, design, construction and
management of infrastructures to reduce the impact of disasters to people, property and
investments.
A higher performance level in design of infrastructures and systems must be
implemented in hazard-prone regions like the Philippines to make them more robust and
resilient to unexpected events.
Civil engineers play a major role in disaster risk reduction (DRR) which is a key to achieve
a safe and sustainable infrastructure development. The academe can contribute to this
challenge by pursuing researches related to DRR. The Civil Engineering Department of De
La Salle University is pursuing activities and researches towards this end.
The statement of the head of the UNISDR, Ms Margareta Wahlstrm during the 2013 Joint
Meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management and Pacific Climate Change
Roundtable in Fiji is very timely. She said: Neither disaster nor climate change is an issue
for the future; its an issue for today.
7th ASEAN Environmental Engineering Conference, 21-22 Nov 2014, Palawan, Philippines
ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
References:
[1] Maydl, Peter (2004). Sustainable Engineering: State-of-the-Art and Prospects,
Structural Engineering International, J. of the IABSE, Vol. 14, No. 13, pp. 176-180.
[2] Hajek Petr (2002). Sustainable Construction through Environment-Based
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Environment
[3] Otto-Zimmermann, K. Ed. (2011). Resilient Cities. Proceedings of the Global Forum
2010, Springer
[ 4] Brown, C et al. (2011). Disaster Waste Management: A Review Article. Waste
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[5] Robin des Bois (2011). The waste from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami,
Progress Report, www.robindesbois.org
[6] UNEP (2012). Managing post-disaster debris: the Japan experience, United Nations
Environment Programme
[7] UNISDR (2008). Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction.
[8] ISDR (2005). Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of
Nations and Communities to Disasters
[9] US Environmental Protection Agency (2010). Storm Water management Model Users
Manual v.5, Water Supply and Water Resources Division, National Risk Management
Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH 45268
[10] I.P. Alvarez, J. Colobong, C. Decal, A. Tan and L. E. Garciano (2013). Pull-Out and
Pull-over Failure Probability of Residential House Roofs due to Extreme Wind Speeds: A
Case Study in Malate, Metro Manila, Undergraduate Thesis, DLSU,Manila
[11] T. DeLeoz, E. Kaw, A. Quidilla& J. Valbuena and L. E. Garciano (2014),
Development of an Alternative Referenced Wind Zone Map of the Philippines by GEV
Modelling And Kriging Interpolation Method, Undergraduate Thesis, DLSU,Manila
[12] N. Arcilla, J. Ong and A.W.C. Oreta (2013). Environmental Impact Assessment of
Structural Systems of Residential Housing Units, Undergraduate Thesis, DLSU,Manila
[13] K. Brizuela and A.W.C. Oreta (2014). A Computer-Aided Semi-Quantitative Seismic
Risk Assessment Tool To Promote Safe School Buildings, Undergraduate Thesis,
DLSU,Manila
[14] J.V.Mercado, A.V.Peyra, J.Tadena, K.W.Zosa and R. T. Tanhueco (2014). Study on
the Effects of Land Use Changes to the Urban Hydrology of Tarlac City, Tarlac,
Undergraduate Thesis, DLSU,Manila
[15] L. E. Garciano, R. M. Tanhueco, T. Koike & I. Yoshida (2014), Risk Analysis of
Power Supply Due to Extreme Floods in San Juan, Surigao City, Philippines, Proc. 2nd
Intl Conference on Vulnerability and Risk Analysis and Management (ICVRAM2014) and
the 6th Intl Symposium on Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis (ISUMA2014), July 12-14,
2014, University of Liverpool, UK