Department Head of Civil Engineering Prof. Dr. Emrah Doğan stated that all kinds of ground movements and building vibrations can be measured from uncomfortable vibrations to earthquake vibrations with high-equipped devices, expert faculty members and young academician members. Moreover he said damage levels can be evaluated and compared with international norms and advanced computer models can be developed. He stated that the civil engineering department is always stand by to provide technical support and consultancy services to city and local administrations, engineering organizations for the creation of a safer and more sustainable city.
Prof. Dr. Erkan Çelebi who continues his scientific studies on geotechnical earthquake engineering at Sakarya University, stated that Adapazarı city center and surrounding districts due to its location close to the North Anatolian Fault line, which has the potential to produce destructive earthquakes risk of experiencing a major earthquake. In addition to he pointed out that these settlements were mostly built on alluvial soil consisting of soft clay and loose sand layers with high water content, and in the event of great earthquakes, the weak ground layers increased the destructive effect of vibration waves and significantly increased the structural damage. He emphasized that the horizontal architecture to in the new zoning area should be durable slopes instead of productive agricultural lands, especially in districts.
In case of necessity, if large scale heavy-weighted high-rise buildings are constructed on weak soils, the structure-foundation-soil interaction should be handled by expert engineers during the safe structure design process. He pointed out that it is not possible to talk about earthquake resistance building design without considering the effect of weak soil conditions on the earthquake behavior of the superstructure as a whole in numerical modeling, computer aided analysis process and basic applications in the field.
In addition, in the rural areas at the Sakarya region and even in the neighborhoods close to the city center, majority of buildings is composed of masonry structures that have not received sustaining engineering, and these structures should be tackled urgently in terms of earthquake safety.
He pointed out, in the studies carried out within the scope of national and international projects in the Department of Civil Engineering, the effects of weak soil conditions on the earthquake behavior of the superstructure were analyzed through scaled models in which using real earthquake recordings, vibratory table experiments and computer simulations. He explained that there is a serious accumulation of knowledge and experience open to sharing on this subject.
He also stated that the works on strengthening the damaged carrier walls of historical masonry structures and existing old buildings with earthquake fabric and special plaster were carried out in cooperation with the Department of Civil Engineering of Karlsruhe Research and Technology University, Germany. He said earthquake fabric strengthening system in a short time with a single operation, , without requiring heavy labor, earthquake safety, fire, heat and moisture insulation will be provided with.
