LECM proposes anti-earthquake building ordinance amendments

The Macau Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LECM) held a seminar on seismic resistance and disaster prevention yesterday. On the sidelines of the seminar, the LECM president Ao Peng Kong proposed that the Macau government should amend laws related to architectural structures and construction.

Ao, who is also the president of the board of directors of LECM, noted that most buildings in Macauwere not built with earthquakes in mind, especially podiums and towers.

These two structures face greater challenges in earthquake prevention, Ao explained. He also pointed out that since most of Macau’s lands are reclaimed, the underlying soil structure will increase the intensity of an earthquake. In addition, sands are likely to become liquefied.

When voicing his opinions, Ao recommended the local government to amend the relevant laws.

“First of all, it [the Macau government] needs to amend building ordinance. Second, it should use the new criteria from this new ordinance to measure whether old buildings meet the safety standards,” said Ao.

In addition to Ao, Shen Qiang, head of the Centre of Foundation and Prospecting at LECM, recommends for the local government to conduct an investigation into the types of soils in reclaimed lands.

The civil engineer suggested that “the most important step is that Macau should carry out an investigation regarding the possibility of soil liquefaction.”

In the new urban zone, the chances of soil liquefaction are low as the soils underwent a special treatment process during the reclamation.

However, Chen expressed his concerns about the risk of soil liquefaction in the Barra, NAPE and Fai Chi Kei areas, due to the lack of reclamation information and documents.