Check on gov’t and private buildings: Structural assessment out today

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City's Department of Engineering and Public Works is expected to release today the structural assessment of the more than 200 buildings it inspected after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake last Tuesday.

City engineer Kenneth Enriquez said most of the buildings they inspected and assessed since Tuesday were a mix of government-owned and private buildings.

Enriquez said the structural assessment will use the Earthquake Quick Response Program (EQRP) color coded assessment levels, which was introduced by the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers Cebu (PICE) and the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP).

Under the EQRP, a green assessment means the building has been damaged but the structural integrity is in place; a yellow assessment means that some parts of a building are restricted while some parts are not fit for occupancy; a red assessment, meanwhile, means that the entire building is off limits.

The DEPW, together with representatives from the Office of the Building Official (OBO), 11 engineers from Manila who are members of ASEP and 14 EQRP-trained Cebu members have already assessed 28 of the city's 80 barangays. Five barangays were found to have severe damage, four have been moderately damaged,13 were found to have minor damage while six survived the earthquake with no structural problems.

A total of 21 national government buildings were also checked by the DEPW team. Three have been found to be severely damaged, three moderately damaged while 15 were seen with minor damage. The team also inspected 12 local government buildings and four of these were found to be severely damaged, two moderately damaged and five with minor damage.

Twenty skywalks in the city were reported to have incurred minor damage  after the quake, as well as two out of the four flyovers in the city.

The team also inspected 37 privately-owned  buildings such as schools, hotels, malls and hospitals in the city.

PICE national director Peter Paul Dy told The Freeman that the group assessed 21 buildings in Cebu City yesterday. These were Pier 1 to 6, Seminario Mayor de San Carlos, National Labor Relations Commissions (NLRC), the Cebu Provincial Capitol, the new Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) building, Philippine Postal Corporation office, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) office, Malacañang sa Sugbo, the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), Cebu Port Authority (CPA) terminals 1 to 6, CPA main building and power house, and the National Food Authority (NFA) building, among others.

The team also checked buildings in Mandaue City like the Regional Trial Court branches 55 and 58, the public market and the city's multi-purpose building.

Out of the six public hospitals the team inspected, only the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) was found to have been severely damaged. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has already recommended  the demolition of the CCMC before it collapses.

The Cebu City Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) pegged  the initial estimate on damage to infrastructure at P300 million, covering 50 buildings.

CCDRRMO operations head Alvin Santillana earlier explained that the initial estimate does not include economic loss as the data has to come from the local chamber of commerce. — /QSB (FREEMAN)