Lidar Scans of Reinforced Concrete Building Performance following the April 25, 2015 Nepal Earthquake

The researchers collected data on the performance of buildings following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal. The focus of the research team was on the assessment of infilled RC frame buildings, however, data was also collected on unreinforced masonry buildings and temples, to better understand the vulnerability of the building construction of Nepal. We have acquired, are finalizing data processing, and will archive data (quantitative measurements) pertaining to the residual deformations and indications of damage in residential buildings as well as critical facilities (schools and hospitals). We also applied the ATC-20 methodology for the rapid and detailed damage assessments, which were complemented with advanced sensing methods, including geo-referenced, 3D, ground-based Lidar (GBL) scans and Structure from Motion (SfM) based on flights from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, i.e. 3D reconstructions from 2D photographs.

This high-fidelity data collected increase the number of case studies of infilled RC frames and will provide critically needed fundamental knowledge about building damage uncertainty following an earthquake. This information has also been helping Nepal with their rebuilding and reconstruction of affected regions of Nepal through our collaborations with the Nepalese Engineers.