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Historic Earthquake-Resistant Constructive Techniques Reinforced by Wooden Logs in Algeria

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Historical Earthquake-Resistant Timber Framing in the Mediterranean Area

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering ((LNCE,volume 1))

Abstract

The seismicity of northern Algeria is light to moderate and thus a moderate-seismic hazard country. Except the Orléansville 1954, El Asnam 1980 and Boumerdes 2003 earthquakes which happened during the twentieth century, the Algerian country has experienced in the past several moderate seismic events that caused loss of human lives and damage to property in different regions. The historical earthquakes known since ancient time Rusucurru (42) (Central region), Lambaesis (262) (Eastern region), Mostaganem (345) (Western region) and during recent time Algiers (1365, 1716), Cherchell (1732), Dellys (1731), Oran (1780), Blida (1825, 1857), Jijell (1856), Constantine (1858) and Biskra (1869), greatly increases the probabilities of an earthquake occurring and damage in the future. Based on this information, fundamental questions of interest for the architects and engineers are: how did the local population build their houses resisting earthquake loads? What structural techniques did the local population use for building their houses to protect themselves against earthquakes? This paper present the timber-frame earthquake resistant techniques developed such a local seismic culture in northern Algeria cities observed in the Casbah of Algiers and Miliana (Central Algeria), Mostaganem (Western region) and in Batna Highlands region (Eastern Algeria).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to oral tradition 2015.

  2. 2.

    I noticed in the old Moorish houses in demolition, an excellent precaution taken by the builders to consolidate the angles. It consists in placing horizontally, every fifty centimeters in height, pieces of wood of approximately two meter long. These parts incorporated in the masonry, were prolonged alternatively according to each of the two walls and came to cross in the angle. I saw houses sapped at the base and half demolished, but still standing due to this artifice of construction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lab ETAP, Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning, University “Saad Dahlab” of Blida 1, Blida, Algeria

    Amina Abdessemed-Foufa

Authors
  1. Amina Abdessemed-Foufa
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Correspondence to Amina Abdessemed-Foufa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. LNEC, Lisbon, Portugal

    Helena Cruz

  2. LNEC, Lisbon, Portugal

    José Saporiti Machado

  3. LNEC , Lisbon, Portugal

    Alfredo Campos Costa

  4. LNEC , Lisbon, Portugal

    Paulo Xavier Candeias

  5. University of Calabria , Rende, Italy

    Nicola Ruggieri

  6. LNEC , LIsbon, Portugal

    José Manuel Catarino

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Abdessemed-Foufa, A. (2016). Historic Earthquake-Resistant Constructive Techniques Reinforced by Wooden Logs in Algeria. In: Cruz, H., Saporiti Machado, J., Campos Costa, A., Xavier Candeias, P., Ruggieri, N., Manuel Catarino, J. (eds) Historical Earthquake-Resistant Timber Framing in the Mediterranean Area. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering , vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39492-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39492-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39491-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39492-3

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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