Learning from Taiwan Building Resilience

Taiwan has made remarkable achievements in construction quality as proven by the recent earthquake. Though the Mw 7.4 (MMI VIII) earthquake took 13 lives, it saved more lives if it is compared to other incidents. For instance, in Cianjur, Indonesia (2022) Mw 5.6 (MMI VIII) earthquake, the total death toll was 635. Stronger earthquake but fewer casualties.  Both Taiwan and Indonesia, are near the 'Ring of Fire' and are prone to earthquakes. From an engineering perspective, at least there are three initiatives we can learn from Taiwan in protecting their people from collapsing buildings under earthquake load. Those are a strict imposition of building codes, continuous construction market improvement, and innovation.

All requirements in the Building Codes are mandatory to obtain building approval. Furthermore, some requirements mandate some deposit of funds into the government account. There will be consequences if the builders or developers fail to fulfill the requirements as stated in the code. The deposited fund will be confestigated. Therefore, any attempt to save costs should not sacrifice the safety factors by delivering sub-standard construction material or workmanship. This regulation becomes effective since there is effective monitoring and a range of sanctions.

To survive in the construction market, builders and construction industries have not only adhered to the code but also successfully improved efficiency. Through years of improvement, Taiwan’s construction industry was found to have higher labor efficiency than mainland China. Along with the labor, their management and technical capacities are increasing.

If the market continuously improves, it will lead to more innovative construction methodologies and technologies. To reduce the impact, we must deliver robust structures and install elements that may dampen or absorb earthquake load. These elements may be pendulums or base isolation. As installed at the Taipei 101 skyscraper, if the building sways, the pendulum can suppress motion by applying forces in opposite directions.

How can this be applied to housing industries in developing countries? It can be applied, but it should not jump to the innovation. It should follow the natural law. Enforcing the code may lead to improvement in the construction market. This means the whole ecosystem must abide by the code, i.e., homeowners, builders, construction material vendors, and government. There should be country-wide education and training for builders. Sending engineers and skilled builders to rural areas to train local builders. Continuous campaign on build-back-safer and seismic retrofitting. Provision of loans for house repair and retrofitting. Along with the market improvement, there will be fair competition to find better ways to increase safety and reduce costs through innovation. At this point, academia should give their input that the innovation is fulfilling the scientific aspects.

Arwin Soelaksono