Post-Tsunami Reconstruction
and Rehabilitation Project of
Practical Action in Sri Lanka.
Asoka Ajantha
Content • Post Tsunami Context
• Post Tsunami Housing Project of PA
• Project achievements
• Post occupancy evaluation
• Research methodology
• Main changes after five years
• Research findings
• What we do differently
• Conclusion
Post Tsunami Context
Fully Damaged houses 67,000
Partially damaged houses More than 70,000
Post Tsunami Housing Project of PA
• Objectives of the project:
– To promote the use of cost effective environmentally friendly technologies and adopting participatory and inclusive planning, designing to post tsunami housing reconstruction
– To strengthen capacity, skills and knowledge that are essential for high quality reconstruction
Technologies promoted
• Rat-trap masonry technology
• Filler slab technology
• I channel roofing (clay tile)
• Energy efficient brick kilns
Project Achievements
• Built 175 houses in five districts
• Trained nearly 1000 construction
tradesmen
• Publications on quality of construction,
maintenance of houses etc.
• Shortlisted in 2008 at the international
competition organized by BSHF
Partially Completed House (tile roof)
Partially Completed House (tile
roof)
Research Methodology
• Formal and informal discussions
• Questioner survey
• Focus group discussions
• Key informant discussions
• field visit to sites
Main changes after five years
• New comers in many houses
• 28% temporally or permanently extended
the houses
• 88.75% paying tax for local authorities
• 100% electrification
Findings
• Users’ satisfaction (overall)
– 61.5% yes
• Attractive house design and aesthetic appearance
• Cool interior temperature
• Completed house
Completed Houses (roof slab)
Findings
• Users’ satisfaction (overall)
– 38.5% somewhat
• Excessively hot interior with concrete flat roof
• No plastering
• Construction defects (due to improper fixing of valance
and barge boards, allowing entry of rats, chimney too low,)
Construction defects
Findings
• Changes to house
– 72% No
– 28% Yes
• permanent/temporary extension, Plastering (not
fully)
Houses with extensions
Findings
• Damages due to natural disasters
– No damages
– Some exposed bricks just above plinth in one
house showed damage from local floods.
Findings
• Selling property
– One beneficiary had sold the property to
invest in a textile business
Findings
• Replication of the technologies
– No any house built using these technologies
(except IFRC) and beneficiaries not aware
about replication
– Trained masons are engaging n conventional
constriction technologies
Findings
• Livelihood improvement
– Trained masons are engaging in contraction
but not in rat-trap masonry bond
construction
Lessons (doing differently)
• Since project having many drawbacks
regarding the technology used, priority
given for the technologies which are familiar
for local communities and constructions
tradesmen.
• Tropical design criteria are introduced for
house designing and construction which will
ensure energy efficiency in house envelop
and thermal comfort in-side the houses
Lessons (doing differently)
• The total budget for the capacity building
component (1/3) was very high but the
long term impact is very less
• No mason is now engaging in this
technology but conventional technologies
in housing construction. Therefore, the
capacity building component of the
project will be planed carefully
Lessons (doing differently)
• Beneficiaries complained about the minor
defects on finishing. Proper quality
controlling measures to be executed to
avoid technical errors in construction
• Component to project life cycle added to
investigate long term impacts and
beneficiary satisfactions
Conclusion
• The findings of this are contradictory to
the findings of post occupancy evaluation
carried out just after the project
completion.
• The technology (rat-trap bond) was not
mainstreamed in Sri Lanka
Thank You
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