Noted geologist Dr Krishna Persad has called on the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott) to re-examine the Couva Children’s Hospital’s design to ensure its parametres are set to withstand a maximum earthquake magnitude of 7.5 or above. This as Persad yesterday joined the growing chorus of concerned experts objecting to the construction of the $1.5 billion children’s hospital at its present location off the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway, Preysal, Couva.
In a letter to the T&T Guardian, Persad, responding to the concerns raised by seismologist Dr Joan Latchman, of the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Seismic Research Centre, in a letter to the T&T Guardian, admitted there was cause for concern. Latchman had said the present location of the hospital was in “close proximity” to the active Central Range/Warm Springs (CR/WS) fault system, which researchers believe is building sufficient strain energy to deliver an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 if it ruptures.
She is recommending an alternative site be selected for the hospital away from the fault line. However, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said on Sunday the hospital would be constructed at its present location. He said he was assured that contractors, Shanghai Construction ,would take all necessary precautions to ensure that the building would be constructed to standard international codes.
Persad, in his letter, agreed with Latchman. “There is absolutely no doubt that Dr Latchman’s statements about the fault zone are correct. There is overwhelming geologic evidence to support this,” he said. Persad said his concern was the design parameter relating to the strength of the earthquake the hospital was designed to withstand.
He urged the relevant authorities and agencies to re-examine the design parameters used relating to the maximum earthquake size expected. If it is less than 7.5, he said, it should be re-designed to withstand a higher magnitude earthquake on the Richter Scale. “It is imperative that the design be redone to ensure that the hospital meets the appropriate standards,” Persad said.
He said two years ago, during his tenure as president-elect of the Geological Society of T&T, the Central Range fault zone and its potential hazards were discussed at length in a seminar on geo-hazards. He said both the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and the Seismic Research Centre attended the seminar and participated in the discussions.
He explained that at the seminar, Dr John Weber, a geo-scientist who has over the past ten years documented the movement of the plates, “recognised that the Central Range Fault has most likely been locked for at least 500 years.” “For the record, the longer a fault is locked, the larger is the potential earthquake that will result,” he said. Persad said he agreed with Moonilal’s statement that many other countries erected buildings along or near to faults and fault zones and that could be factored into engineering design.
But he stressed the need for authorities to re-examine the parametres of the design for the Couva hospital. Yesterday, Dr Ian Khan Kerhanan, senior professor at UWI, also expressed concern over the hospital. He questioned who conducted the geo-technical investigation for the hospital site.
“Have we already forgotten the swelling clays of the Brian Lara Stadium, the collapse of the Las Alturas buildings that was triggered by foundation instability? A building code is not in any form or fashion intended as a substitute for mature engineering judgment,” Kerhanan said. The professor added: “There is a lot of technology out there to make buildings earthquake-resistant, not earthquake-proof. Was the "specific local knowledge" of the fault taken into account by the foreign experts?”
Former head of the Civil Engineering Department at UWI, Dr Myron Chin, also expressed his discomfort over the project location. He suggested that Government appoint an independent engineer to carry out a technical audit/review of the project.