In his March 2013 Viewpoint article, Grenville Phillips has made an excellent statement regarding the reconstruction in Haiti: "Structural engineering assistance should be directed towards helping Haitians build what they want, but in a manner that is economical, safe during natural hazards and durable". The question he raises is about the use of appropriate masonry technology in the reconstruction after the 2010 earthquake. Even if building practice before the earthquake was what Haitians wanted, the devastating consequences of the earthquake clearly showed that those practices need to be improved. It appears that concrete block masonry construction and reinforced concrete (RC) frame construction with masonry infill walls were the most prevalent building technologies before the earthquake.
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