Assessing and repairing infrastructure after disasters

Being able to assess the damage to buildings, to either repair or dismantle them, is critical to a country's reconstruction during or after a disaster.

Since 2020, RedR UK has been working with Ramboll UK to develop and deliver a training programme on structural detailing and damage assessments in the Middle East. The aim of the programme is to improve the safety and disaster resilience of buildings in Iraq and Syria by enhancing the ability of structural engineers to better assess damages and make informed decisions on whether to repair or dismantle a building or seek expert advice.

The course gives participants the ability to determine the structural integrity of affected buildings (seismic & blast damage), and to improve the design of reparation and strengthening works and future builds. This has direct humanitarian consequences on communities in the target countries, contributing to the significant safety, assessment, and reconstruction challenges in the region: in Syria alone, UNITAR estimated by 2019 that 131,426 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

In 2023, RedR UK will bring experience from this programme, along with our wider Ukraine Humanitarian Response programme, together to develop and offer a new programme in Ukraine focusing on conflict structural damage assessments and reconstruction.

Watch a short video on the project and its impact here!

Get involved!

In Ukraine

Until April 2023, RedR UK will be assessing learning needs and capacity gaps related to these topics, to inform the development of the programme. This will be a collaborative process with inputs from NGOs, civil society, academia, private sector and government in Ukraine.

If you are interested in participating in this assessment phase, please contact Noor at noor.kuchai@redr.org.uk

In Iraq and Syria

The 6-week course will be running free of charge throughout 2023 – if you would like to be considered for a place, please submit an application here.

We also offer a tailor-made option for organisations, to train multiple members of internal staff or partners. If you would like to speak to the team about running a damage assessments and detailing training, tailored to your organisation’s needs, please click here.

Click here to read case studies from the project in Iraq and Syria.

This course really expanded my knowledge and gave me the right tool to scientifically assess the buildings without taking risks.

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Course participant from Iraq

This course has remarkably enhanced these needed skills as it focused on the damaged assessment, retrofitting, and shed light on the methodology to design buildings subjected to dynamic loads.

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Course facilitator from Iraq

More information

If you would like more information or to talk to the team about this programme, please click here.