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ISBN 978-616-374-596-5
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.
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.
Natural SUSTAINABILITY:
Environment Wasted Energy
Extreme Depleted Resources
Climate Change Hazards Debris
Natural Disaster
Hazards Risk DISASTER Impact
Outputs of SAFETY:
Development Human losses
Vulnerabilities
Material Damage
Built
Environment
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.
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
Vulnerability is a function of physical,
Frequency & Intensity of Disaster
social, economic, environmental and
political factors but in the case of
infrastructures, vulnerability is related to VULNERABILITIES
the degree of safety and sustainable
features provided. DEGREE OF
SAFETY SUSTAINABILITY
PROVIDED FEATURES
2.1 DRR as a framework for research
One strategy to address safety and
sustainability is disaster risk reduction PEOPLE HUMAN HEALTH
ASSETS RESOURCES
(DRR). UNISDR [7] defines DRR as “the INFRASTRUCTURES ECOSYSTEM
concept and practice of reducing disaster
ELEMENTS AT RISK
risks through systematic efforts to analyse
and manage the causal factors of disasters, Figure 3. The problem of safety and
including through reduced exposure to sustainability in hazard-prone regions
hazards, lessened vulnerability of people
and property, wise management of land and the environment, and improved preparedness
for adverse events.”
There are three important phases in DRR that must be considered to successfully realize
its objectives:
(a) Hazard Assessment. Know the hazards that threaten the assets (people, structures and
investment) of a community.
(b) Vulnerability Assessment. Identify the ‘elements at risk’ or ‘asset’ and their
vulnerabilities to the hazard that may trigger a potential disaster.
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
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
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 City’s 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 city’s 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
range from US$ 1800 to US$ 36,000 for the Figure 7. 50-year return period for
power provider. flood depths
(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 hazard-
prone 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 Wahlström 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; it’s 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
Optimisation,” Proc. IABSE Symposium Melbourne 2002 towards a Better Built
Environment
[3] Otto-Zimmermann, K. Ed. (2011). Resilient Cities. Proceedings of the Global Forum
2010, Springer
[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 User’s
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