Seismic Vulnerability of Buried Water Pipes

Abstract

In south hemisphere regions mortality rates are closely related to infectious diseases that, to a large degree, depend on the quality of water consumed and on access to adequate sanitation services. A special attention must be paid to water quality particularly in case of an earthquake. Damage in this sector depends not only on the intensity of the disaster, but also on the vulnerability of buried pipelines. In this work, this vulnerability is studied through the use of a developed vulnerability index. This one allows a good classification and description of the seismic quality of the pipes taking into account the main parameters governing their vulnerability. A program including all informations that might be used was subsequently developed. The method was applied on the water network of Blida, a city in suburb of Algiers. The results obtained show that the established classification confirms the observed information in situ.