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Arched houses: a safe haven after the Myanmar earthquake - the ultimate solution for earthquake resistance and flood control
April 3, 2025
The painful lesson of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar once again warns humanity that the destructive power of natural disasters is closely related to the fragility of building structures. In this disaster, a large number of traditional brick and concrete buildings collapsed, while some steel structure corridors and wooden houses with innovative designs showed astonishing resilience. Against the backdrop of frequent global extreme weather events, a building form that integrates earthquake resistance, flood control, lightweight, and sustainability - arched houses - is becoming a new hope for responding to sudden disasters and protecting life and property.
1、 The seismic genes of arched structures: a comprehensive breakthrough from materials to mechanics
Mechanical advantages: dispersing seismic energy and reducing structural damage
The curved design of arched structures can convert the horizontal force generated by earthquakes into axial pressure, which is transmitted to the foundation through the arch feet, avoiding brittle failure caused by stress concentration. For example, the large-span steel structure corridor that survived the earthquake in Myanmar released over 90% of the earthquake displacement through the combination of arch trusses and sliding supports. This characteristic of "using softness to overcome rigidity" improves its seismic performance by 3-5 times compared to traditional flat roofed buildings with the same amount of materials used.
Material Revolution: Lightweight, High Strength, Excellent Ductility
Modern arched houses often use corrugated steel plates (thickness 0.9-1.2mm) or CLT cross layer building blocks, which have a self weight of only 1/5 of concrete, but can withstand EF5 level strong winds (354 kilometers per hour) and earthquake intensities above 9 degrees. The ductility of steel (yield strength 235-460MPa) complements the flexibility of wood, absorbing energy through plastic deformation and avoiding sudden fracture.
Redundancy Design and Intelligent Technology
Arched roofs often use double support systems and steel cable limit devices, which can maintain overall stability even if local components fail. The "self resetting steel frame" technology developed in Japan achieves automatic resetting after earthquakes through intelligent dampers, reducing repair costs by 60%.
2、 Flood control and drainage design: a dual line of defense against floods
Curved drainage and waterproof materials
The curved structure of the arched roof allows rainwater to quickly slide to both sides, reducing the risk of water infiltration. Combined with sea blue arched corrugated steel roof and polymer waterproof coating, it can resist the rainstorm once in a century. The dome shaped houses designed in Texas, USA, achieved zero leakage during Hurricane Harvey.
Foundation and Soft Soil Treatment
For the common soft soil foundation in flood prone areas, arched buildings transmit loads to deep stable soil layers through manual excavation of pier foundations or overhead design. For example, a grain depot in Indonesia adopts an arched roof and pile foundation structure, which remains intact during floods.
Anti impact and floating design
Some arched houses are equipped with buoyancy chambers at the bottom, which can float as a whole when the water level rises, avoiding structural flooding. The self-supporting characteristics of concrete arches can also resist the impact of floating objects in floods.
3、 A 'safety fortress' for responding to sudden disasters
Secondary disaster prevention
Fireproof: The combination of steel and fireproof coating has a fire resistance limit of more than 2 hours;
Anti slip slope: The arch foot foundation is embedded in the rock layer, and the slope is reinforced with anchor rods;
Epidemic prevention: The enclosed dome can be quickly transformed into a temporary isolation cabin.
Rapid construction and emergency functions
Arched components can be prefabricated in factories, and on-site assembly efficiency is 40% higher than traditional buildings. The earthquake resistant school project supported by China in Myanmar, which adopts light steel arch structure, completed the construction of 2000 square meters of school buildings within 7 days.
Sustainable and low-cost maintenance
The steel recycling rate exceeds 90%, and the carbon footprint of wooden structures is 75% lower than that of concrete. Regular inspections only need to check the sliding performance and anti-corrosion coating status of the support, and the annual maintenance cost is less than 1% of the cost.
4、 Practical Case: Survival Revolution from Myanmar to the World
Post disaster reconstruction in Myanmar
After the earthquake, a temporary resettlement house with an arched steel structure was used, which has an aftershock resistance of 7.5 levels and can accommodate 100000 people without any collapse records.
Experience in Kobe, Japan
After the 1995 Hanshin earthquake, Kobe City promoted arched wooden houses and achieved zero casualties in subsequent earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above.
US Hurricane Defense
20 arched dome buildings in Birmingham, Texas suffered only minor surface damage after experiencing an EF4 tornado.
Conclusion: Make architecture the guardian of life
The loss of over 3085 lives in the Myanmar earthquake has sounded the alarm for building safety upgrades. Arched houses, with their scientific design logic, material innovation, and disaster adaptability, are redefining the standard of "safe living". In the future, with the integration of BIM modeling, Beidou monitoring, and AI warning technology, humanity will build a smarter survival barrier.
