Prospective Studies for the Implementation of a Remote Access Earthquake Damage Detection System for High-Rise Buildings in Romania

The rapid increase of the number newly-erected high-rise buildings in Romania during the last two decades brought up the importance of the continuous monitoring of their state. For seismic actions, a post-event modification of the dynamic characteristics of a building can provide a rapid indicator about its potential damage. The paper presents the methods, procedures and steps by which a system providing online remote access to data resulting from building vibration monitoring could be implemented and used for buildings in Romania. The system would allow rapid identification of building damage, based on the processing of recorded data. Identified issues, as well as potential bottlenecks are presented, together with the proposed solutions. The system is planned to be implemented by using the infrastructure available at NIRD URBAN-INCERC, Romania. The paper also presents a case study concerning the structural health monitoring of a multi-story reinforced concrete building, carried out by the project team.