Temporary Earthquake Retrofit of the Land Walls in Istanbul

Temporary Earthquake Retrofit of the Land Walls in IstanbulA.S. KırlangıçUniversity of Waterloo, CanadaM.G. Kesti, M. Erdik & E. Çaktı Bogazici University, Turkey ABSTRACT: In the countries under risk of seismic hazard, development of emergency temporary retrofit techniques for historical structures emerges as an alternative to conventional strengthening approaches. The aim of this study is to propose a temporary retrofit technique for the towers of the Theodosian Land Walls in Istanbul. The proposed solution should be installed easily while ensuring the structural health of the towers until a permanent retrofitting is initiated. To demonstrate the approach, earthquake performance assessment of a generic tower which represents the towers of Theodosian Land Walls was carried out. After determining the earthquake vulnerability of the tower, the analyses to clarify the effectiveness of the proposed retrofit method were performed. The results revealed that sufficient resistance of the tower against horizontal earthquake loads is achieved. The methodology described here can be employed for masonry tall structures where the safety of building is endangered due to large crack patterns and transversal deformation