Expertise

Disaster Mitigation

We work as partners with national governments; the private sector; and international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and nonprofit nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to strategize and implement natural-hazard mitigation programs. Private-sector organizations include national banks, national commercial and industrial facilities, and multinational corporations.

In Istanbul, we played a critical role as part of a $1 billion World Bank and European Union (EU) program to provide a technical platform and quality control for the seismic rehabilitation of 2000 schools, hospitals, and historic monuments. In Romania, we managed engineering and construction quality programs for key disaster response facilities as part of a $200 million World Bank project. In Haiti, we engineered many key private-sector buildings for seismic upgrades and engineered new construction using High-Performance Earthquake Engineering. We also developed a massive database to address the earthquake vulnerabilities of more than 1000 UN facilities and residences in Haiti. This database will be used as the foundation for a risk management program throughout the country.

From our vast experience in natural disasters, we recognize that an effective disaster mitigation program is critical for saving lives and reducing financial and societal interruptions after a disaster. We help prepare communities worldwide by:

  • Evaluating local construction methods and engineering capacity
  • Transferring our knowledge of the latest engineering technologies, building codes and management
  • Establishing procedures for engineering, quality control, and construction management
  • Implementation of engineering and construction management
  • Building national engineering, construction and management capacity to help achieve sustainable development