Click
above
to
watch
the
full
55minute
TV
documentary
movie.
Randolph
Langenbach
appears
in
the
last
10
minutes
of
the
53
minute
program.
Go
to
minute
43
to
see
him
in
the
Hanuman
Dhoka
Palace
with
Kai
Weise,
architect
from
Nepal,
and
at
minute
46
to
see
him
in
the
remote
village
of
Mankhu
in
the
Himalayan
foothills,
helping
to
reconstruct
a
home
reinforced
with
Gabion
Bands.
The
Sunar
Family
House
construction
crew
Mankhu,
Nepal,
August
19,
2015
Photo
by
Jake
Norton,
Skydoor
Films
5 minute movie
to introduce the GABION BANDS technology
The
2015
Earthquakes
in
Nepal
&
The
invention
of
GABION
BANDS
for
rural
construction
ABOVE
6 minute MOVIE:
MAKING RUBBLE STONE MASONRY EARTHQUAKE SAFE,
WITH
GABION BANDS
Produced and Photographed by
Randolph Langenbach
ABOVE:
28
min.
MOVIE
of
an
illustrated
lecture:
Post-Earthquake
Reconstruction
in
Nepal
with
Gabion
Bands
An
Improvement
to
Rubble
Masonry
in
Mud
Mortar
Construction
in
Earthquake
Areas
Produced and Photographed by
Randolph Langenbach
This
Lecture
was
given
at
the
Technical
Session
on
Enhancing
Rural
Construction
Culture
at
the
Housing
Recovery
and
Reconstruction
Platform
(HRRP)
in
Kathmandu,
Nepal on
15
November,
2016,
Kathmandu,
Nepal
The first draft report was first written 3 weeks after the April 25 earthquake proposing a technology that could aid
in
the
reconstruction
of
rural
stone
dwellings
remote
from
access
to
imported
materials,
and
suffering
a
shortage
of
good
quality
timber. This copy of the report has been edited and expanded after the August field trip to rural Nepal to organize the construction of a demonstration house with Gabion Bands under the direction of filmmakers Skydoor Films for a WGBH "NOVA" documentary on the earthquake.
REVIEW of Gabion Bands by Dr. Owen Geiger, Ph.D. in Social and Economic Development
Owen Geiger is the former Director of Builders Without Borders and Founder and Director of the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building (www.grisb.org). He is an author, engineer and licensed contractor specializing in strawbale construction, earthbag and other types of sustainable building.
Gabion Bands Submittals for
Nepal Government
Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC)
First Submittal, November 2015 for inclusion in the DUDBC "Design Catalogue for Reconstruction of Earthquake Resistant Houses"
See below for the already published Volume 1 of the Design Catalogue
Second Submittal, March 2016 for inclusion in the DUDBC "Design Catalogue for Reconstruction of Earthquake Resistant Houses"
See below for the already published Volume 1 of the Design Catalogue
This project is the first school constructed with Gabion Bands. Chupar is in Nuwakot District. The project was spearheaded by JOHN VAVRUSKA, former Peace Corps Volunteer to Nepal, and was carried out with the leadership of John Vavruska together with Expats Uttam and Budu Rai and from Chupar living in the United States who returned to Nepal to guide the reconstruction of the school and the community they were from. Helping John were also two American friends, who became known as "The Three Musketeers," David English and Neil (Sandy) McKay.
In his "Update on Earthquake Recovery for Chupar Village in Nepal" Published when he was embarking on this project, John reported:
"For rebuilding, we are excited about a construction technique called “gabion banding” that re-uses the abundant stone left over from the earthquake. Gabion banding, along with traditional mud/stone masonry, avoids the need for expensive materials and scarce local timber, while greatly increasing earthquake resistance. Read and watch a video about the technique developed by restoration architect Randolph Langenbach, author of “Don’t Tear it Down!” at http://www.traditional-is-modern.net/Nepal.html.It will be featured in a NOVA film to be aired on PBS early next year. Volunteers are currently designing structures for the village that incorporate this technique."
CLICK HERE
To See an 18 Minute Film about the Chupar Project
Click
on
the
cover
images
to
download
PDFs
of
these
reports.
The
report
on
the
LEFT
was
written
2
weeks
following
the
April
25th
2015
earthquake.
It
describes
the
first
reported
and
photographed
evidence
of
the
performance
of
buildings
with
and
without
timber
bands
(ring
beams)
primarily
from
the
evidence
at
the
Hanuman
Dhoka
Palace
in
central
Kathmandu.
The
report
on
the
RIGHT
includes
the
sequence
of
correspondence
beginning
just
3
days
after
the
April
25,
2015 Gorkha
Earthquake
leading
up
to
the
creation
of
a
detailed
report.
These
emails
and
the
detailed
reports
were
originally
circulated
to
Nepali
and
ICOMOS
colleagues.
Neither
of
these
documents
have
been
modified
subsequent
to
Prof.
Langenbach's
visit
to
Nepal
in
August,
2015.
NOTE:
These
Designs
in
Volume
1
have
already
been
approved
for
reconstructions.
(The
"submittal"
by
Randolph
Langenbach above
is
for
consideration
for
inclusion
in
the
next
scheduled
volume,
which
is
delayed,
but
still
supposed
to
be
issued.)
NOTE:
Co-author
Seismic
Engineer,
Jitendra
Bothara,
is
originally
from
Nepal,
which
gives
this
book
particular
relevance
to
Nepalese
stone
construction.
VIDEOS
DURING
QUAKE
http://www.traditional-is-modern.net/NEPAL/Videos/GorkhaMotion.mp4
This CCTV video, which Seismologists D.Mencin and R. Bilham have keyed to a plot of the Gorkha earthquake motion in the Kathmandu Basin,is the most revealing, as the camera recorded the people being thrown from side to side. The video plays the CCTV full frame image first, and then follows it with the CCTV image shown together with the plot.
Video shown here with kind permission of Prof. Roger Bilham
Gorkha
(Nepal)
Earthquake:
PEER
Strong
Motion
Records,
Server
Room
Video.
PEER
has
processed
strong
motion
records
for
the
main
shock
of
the
Gorkha
(Nepal)
Earthquake
which
occurred
on
April
25,
2015.
The
source
records
are
from
the
KATNP
(USGS)
station
and
have
been
processed
using
PEER’s
standard
data
processing
method
(Ancheta
et
al.
2013).
Pair
the
data
above
with
this
video
of
a
Server
Room
(courtesy
of
Exponent/Failure
Analysis
Associates)
recorded
during
the
main
shock
of
the
April
25,
2015
Gorkha
(Nepal)
earthquake.The
video
was
recorded
on
the
fifth
floor
of
a
7-story
tall
reinforced
concrete
moment
frame
building
located
in
Kathmandu,
Nepal,
at
a
site
about
2000
feet
from
the
KATNP
(USGS)
strong
motion
recording
station,
and
appears
to
reflect
the
one-sided
displacement
pulse
effect.
Typical
column
spacing
was
approximately
16
feet
on-center
with
masonry
infill
walls
around
the
perimeter.
The
building
reportedly
suffered
no
structural
damage
–
observed
damage
included
very
minor
cosmetic
damage
to
infilled
walls,
and
damage
to
suspended
ceilings
on
the
top
floor.
-Cover-s.jpg)
NepalProjects/DSC03774%20(Large)_small.JPG)
