Chapter 8

Precast Concrete Buildings

A very interesting feature of the building stock in the epicentral region is the presence
of a very large number of precast concrete panel buildings. Precast constructions are very
rarely used in India since they require large initial investments and are also highly
mechanised. In Gujarat, as a part of primary education program, the State Government
decided to construct around 6000 precast concrete primary school buildings. The main
objective of choosing precast construction was the expected advantages in speed of
construction and quality control.
Several hundred precast school buildings were already constructed when the
earthquake occurred. All these buildings are single-storied and consist of 2 or more rooms
constructed in a row. It is interesting to note that the construction technology and engineering
details of precast concrete panel technology was chosen by the Education Department
without technical evaluations from the engineering departments of Government of Gujarat.
The precast concrete panel buildings have performed very poorly in the earthquake.
Almost all precast school buildings in the epicentral region either collapsed or suffered
irreparable damage (Figures 8.1 and 8.2). Since most students were busy with republic day
celebrations in the school premises, they saw these new buildings crumble and collapse in
front of their eyes. The poor performance of these buildings has contributed to the trauma
amongst the young children studying in government primary schools.

Design and Construction Issues

The Indian Standard Code specifying criteria for earthquake resistant design of
structures, IS 1893-1984 assigns Importance Factor (I) for schools as 1.5. This implies that all
school buildings must be designed for 1.5 times the seismic loads than ordinary buildings in
that area. The importance factor of 1.5 is also assigned to other important public and
assembly structures such as hospitals, railway stations, and airports. The higher importance
factor for school buildings compared to residential buildings is because of the vulnerability of
the occupants as well as the role of the building as a disaster management centre following an
earthquake.
As per the IS code of practice for earthquake resistant constructions, IS 4326-1993,
the use of precast panel construction is permitted in earthquake-prone regions. However,
several special precautions are necessary for using this panel-form construction. The concrete
panels are designed to withstand both vertical and horizontal loads. The code also specifies
that special attention should be given to connections between wall panels so that transfer of
shear between them is ensured. Due to the importance of connections in panels for
transferring shear, the IS code further requires that the wall panels formed between cross
walls and floors or roof shall be checked for their strength in bending as a plate or as a
vertical strip subjected to earthquake force acting on its own mass. Due to importance factor
of 1.5, school buildings in Kuchchh region are categorised as Class E structures, which
require the adoption of all earthquake-resistant features prescribed in the code.

90
Construction Technique Used for Precast Panel Constructions

The precast concrete panel structures are made of a number of flat concrete panels and
precast horizontal and vertical concrete ties. The panels and ties both have suitable grooves to
ensure proper fit during construction. The slab panels are typically of size 3.0 m × 1.0 m, and
are 75 mm thick. The vertical and horizontal ties have cross-section of 250 mm × 250 mm.
The panels as well as the ties have 100 mm wide and 50 mm deep grooves to fit with each
other. Figure 8.3 shows the close-up view of groove arrangement in the vertical ties and slab
panel. The vertical and horizontal ties are connected at their ends through a suitable groove
connection, and no dowel bars have been used. Figures 8.4 and 8.5 show the connection
between vertical and horizontal ties and the status of these connections after the application
of lateral force due to earthquake.
The foundation of these buildings consists of isolated spread tapered footings that are
cast integrally with the vertical concrete ties. The footing size is typically 850 mm × 850 mm
with depth of 850 mm (Figure 8.6). The foundation depth was typically less than 1 m below
ground level.
The roof of these structures also consists of precast concrete panels. The roof panels
span across horizontal tie elements and are also fitted in suitable grooves (Figures 8.2 and
8.5). No dowel is used for any of the connections in the roof panel.

Seismic Strengths of Precast Panel Constructions

Precast concrete structures, if properly designed and constructed, are very effective in
resisting earthquake forces. The strengths of precast concrete panel technology used for
school buildings are:

1. Precast concrete panels have very high shear strength and can potentially resist large
seismic forces.

2. The components of these structures can be constructed in a controlled factory

environment ensuring good quality control.

Seismic Deficiencies of Precast Panel Constructions

The structures performed very poorly during the earthquake and several deficiencies
were observed that reduced their seismic resistance.

1. The concrete panels were connected using teeth-in-groove system. Suitable teeth and
grooves were formed in all panels and ties for this purpose. However, the panels were
not connected using dowels, and the joints opened up during earthquake motions
(Figure 8.3). The panels were therefore unable to transfer shear force due to
earthquake.

2. Since the panels were not connected together properly, they easily separated from
each other due to earthquake. This caused the panels to dislodge and collapse
resulting is brittle and catastrophic collapse of these structures.

3. The foundation of these structures consists of spread footing about 1 m below ground
level. These footings are not connected through plinth level even in loose and sandy

91
 soil (Figure 8.7). This resulted in the significant differential movement of the different
vertical connectors. This contributed to the collapse of these structures.

4. The roof panels were not connected to each other except through grooves. In addition,
no provision has been made for a screed layer on top that will integrate the panels and
also provide waterproofing. These roof panels easily separated and, in several
instance, slid off their position (Figures 8.5 and 8.8).

Seismic Strengthening or Retrofitting Techniques

Precast concrete panel structures can have excellent seismic resistance if properly
designed and constructed. The school buildings were constructed with almost total disregard
to all code provisions and other norms that are applicable for precast constructions in
seismically active zone. These structures are of high importance, with Importance Factor of
1.5, seismic strengthening requires conformance with earthquake forces of large intensity.
Due to the problem with construction of all elements, including the foundation, it is
recommended that these buildings should not be retrofitted. Any retrofitting scheme will be
extremely complex and expensive and may have only questionable improvement in the
performance. Instead, these structures should be demolished and reconstructed using the
same panels but with cast-in-situ foundation and vertical and horizontal tying elements. Care
should also be taken to ensure that the panels are connected using dowels as per the code
requirements.
New structures of precast concrete panel can be constructed with high seismic
resistance. This will require compliance with the provisions of various IS codes such as IS
1893-1984 and IS 4326-1993. The most important modification to the existing practice is
that the different elements must me made to act integrally as a single unit. This will require
tying all the different panels and ties together with dowels of suitable capacity and also
connecting the structure at the plinth level. The roof panels must also overlaid with steel
screed and covered with concrete to ensure that the different panels act together.

92
Figure 8.1 Damaged precast concrete panel school building in Krishnanagar locality of
village Chobari.

Figure 8.2 Badly damaged precast panel school building in village Kukma.

93
Figure 8.3 Close-up view of rectangular groove for panel connection of Primary School
building at Kukma village. The panels did not have any other connection except fitting in
grooves.

94
Figure 8.4 View of badly damaged school building constructed using precast concrete panels at
village Kukma. The consequences of improper connection between the different components can be
clearly seen.

Figure 8.5 Close-up view of badly damaged school building constructed using precast concrete panels
in village Sapeda. These buildings have collapsed like a house of cards during the earthquake.

95
Figure 8.6 Close-up view of foundation-vertical tie elements in school building constructed using
precast concrete panels in village Chobari. Due to inadequate depth of foundation, these vertical tie
elements were simply uprooted from the ground and sustained no structural damage.

Figure 8.7 Foundation of shallow isolated footing resting sandy soil in school building at
village Chobari. The strong ground shaking uprooted the foundation.

96
Figure 8.8 Failure of roof panels in Sapeda primary school. The roof panels were fitted into
grooves but were not connected to each other or to the supporting beams.

97