CAD and an Innovative Building System Come to the Aid of Refugees. Part II - Postscript

Tony Ruiz and his crew left Turkey on November 2 after successfully erecting the relief buildings using local labor and materials. According to Ruiz, one of the more difficult tasks was to make sure that no shortcuts were taken during the construction process. For example, it was suggested that they use smooth rebar instead of ribbed as the interior support in the slabs that would assembled be create the walls and ceilings of the building. The amount of money saved by using inferior materials cannot be justified if the structural integrity of the structures is at stake—particularly in an area that is so prone to earthquakes.


A few days after Ruiz returned to the U.S. he found out that his buildings were put to the test far sooner than he had anticipated. On November 12^th, Turkey was dealt yet another devastating earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. While much of the area was devastated, the relief housing put in place by Ruiz and his crew little more than a week earlier survived without a scratch.