UBC Researcher Aims to Make Concrete More Resilient

Brief 

Dr. Lisa Tobber, a structural engineer and assistant professor at University of British Columbia’s School of Engineering, is leading research to understand how to better design and construct disaster-resilient buildings, with a special interest in concrete. Tobber’s research aims to reduce the adverse environmental effects of concrete construction and create more resilient structures, and among other subjects, her work aims to develop seismic design guidelines for precast concrete and investigate the use of coupling beams and damped outrigger systems that would distribute energy and reduce damage.

Insight

When a deadly 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2011, over 60 per cent of concrete buildings three storeys or higher in the downtown business district had to be demolished as they were no longer safe to live or work in.

Structural engineer Dr. Lisa Tobber, an assistant professor in the School of Engineering within UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science, wants us to consider what this scenario means for British Columbia — a seismically active region that is waiting for the “Big One” to strike, and where buildings are designed to preserve life rather than remain safe to reside after an earthquake.

“As we saw in Christchurch, a lack of resiliency has major ramifications. Buildings that aren’t required to be structurally sound after an earthquake end up getting demolished,” said Dr. Tobber.“Here in BC, that could lead to hundreds of thousands of people who are suddenly homeless because their mid- or high-rise building isn’t safe to return to after a disaster.”

Designing against disaster

Dr. Tobber leads a research group that is advancing knowledge of how to design and construct disaster-resilient buildings. She is particularly interested in concrete – a material of choice in high-rise buildings for its durability and versatility.

She is being awarded the BC Housing Professorship in Resilient Reinforced Concrete Buildings, which will enable her to play a leading role in guiding interdisciplinary research in this area.