Schools reinforced against quakes in India

The Sunday Times

Students at 82 schools in India may soon be able to focus more on their studies, knowing that their school buildings are reinforced against earthquakes. Technology to make the schools quake-proof comes from NTU, whose researchers found a way to reinforce brick structures with canvas strips back in 2007.

The cheap, readily available canvas is wrapped around the bricks and can double a structure's life in an earthquake, according to NTU tests. The Temasek Foundation partnered NTU and institutes in India to teach this and other engineering techniques to 200 local builders in 2010. Each builder went home and taught three colleagues, and there were also formal training programmes. In total, 900 builders were trained.