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| Manila Before WW2 Image Source:http://www.illustradolife.com/ |
Gone are the days when Manila was called as the “Paris of
Asia”. As sad as it may seem, many of our national treasures like the Alfonso
Zobel Mansion, the Avenue theater in Avenida, the Jai Alai Building and the
recently demolished Hyatt Hotel which was built by the national artist Nick
Joaquin and many historical landmarks are destroyed unconsciously citing
reasons that the buildings demolished are dangerous and might be harmful to the
society if not taken down.
If only those people behind it knows that there are preventive
measures that can be done to reinforce these buildings, history would be
preserved and will hopefully be seen by the kids today and of the future. If
only they would know that there are provider
of retrofitting supplies in the Philippines then these precious gems would
be saved.
What exactly is
Structural Retrofitting or Seismic Retrofitting?
Seismic Retrofitting is
a process of strengthening a building by strengthening weak connections between
the roof and the wall, shear walls and roof diaphragm. Through seismic retrofitting, a building can
have more resistance to seismic activities or earthquakes which can save more
lives and can be applied to old buildings like the ones demolished in Manila. Not
only buildings can benefit from these but also bridges and dams.
How can we benefit
from Seismic retrofitting?
If you are in a real estate business, then this will have a
great impact in your business. If your building would go under a seismic
retrofitting process, it will increase the property’s
marketability because many buyers are attracted to the security a
retrofitting process would provide.
With the security provided by the retrofitting process, the risk of injury and legal litigation will
be reduced too. This would be useful to owners because if it will be proven
that they were aware that the building needed a structural work but neglected
it, no insurance will agree to give premiums on negligence.
Lastly, if you own a seismic retrofitted building, business
men who will occupy a space on your property would agree to rent for longer periods of time because
they are sure that their businesses will be secured.
For our old historical buildings in Manila, only time will
tell when it will be destroyed but I am sure that by applying structural improvements
like seismic retrofitting, it will be ageless and would help significantly to Manila
and the Philippine tourism as well. Old hotels will be landmarks like the
Manila Hotel and would continue to accept guests while other buildings would
serve its purpose.
