Government of Nepal

National Reconstruction Authority

Singhadurbar, Kathmandu

REPAIR AND RETROFITTING

MANUAL
For
RCC STRUCTURE

For earthquake damaged houses that needs to be repaired

and retrofitted under
HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION
PROGRAMME

2017
1
Limitation
 The repair and retrofitting strategies set forth in this manual are applicable
only for the residential houses that falls in repair and retrofitting categories
after Gorkha earthquake 2015 under the GoN housing reconstruction
programme.
 Residential and fall under category ’C’ and ‘D’ in Building act 2055.

* If the basic level of intervention has already done and strategy is

similar as mention in this manual or published documents by
Government of Nepal or as per international practices and are
based on codal provision ensuring life safety with quality
construction then applications can be forwarded only after
thorough engineering judgement.

2
Simple Terms
[Repair]:
To bring back the architectural shape of the building so that all
services start working & the functioning of building is resumed
quickly.
The actions will include the following:

1) Patching up of defects such as cracks and fall of plaster.

2) Repairing doors, windows, replacement of glass panes.

3) Checking and repairing electric wiring.

4) Checking and repairing gas pipes, water pipes and plumbing

services. etc.

3
Simple terms
[Restoration]
To restore its original strength.

The actions will include the following:

a. Injecting rich mortar, epoxy’s like material, which is strong in tension,
into the cracks in walls, columns, beams, etc.

b.Addition of reinforcing mesh on both faces of the cracked wall,

holding it to the wall through spikes or bolts & then covering it
suitably.

c. Removal of portions of cracked masonry walls & piers and rebuilding

them in richer mortar. Use of non-shrinking mortar will be preferable.

d.Remove the damage column or beam, fix the reinforcing, add

reinforcing if needed, and re-concreting. 4
Strengthening/Retrofitting
[Strengthening/Retrofitting]
To make buildings stronger than before and making existing building
code Compliance.
The actions will include the following:
a. demolish the weakness sources or sources that can make stress
concentration in several parts:
{local retrofit}
columns distribution are not symmetric
{Global retrofit}
walls distribution are not symmetric
different stiffness from one to another floors
excessive openings
b. Make the building as a unity by tying together all components of
building
c. Avoid brittle failure by re-arranging, adding reinforcing bars, and
make the details in accordance with ductility requirement.
d. Increasing the lateral strength by adding walls, columns, etc. 5
1. Materials for the Repair and Retrofitting
The various materials used for repairs and retrofitting's are:

Ordinary material
The polymer latex acts in several ways:
 Cement Slurry
• Water-reducing plasticizer
 Cement Mortar • Improves bond between repair
 Expansive Cement mortar and concrete
 Quick setting Cement • Reduces permeability of repair
 Gypsum Cement mortar to water
 Steel Reinforcement • Acts as integral curing aid
 GI wires • Increases tensile & flexural
 Rolled Steel sections strength of mortar.

Advanced material
 Epoxy resin/epoxy Mortar
 Polymer Modified Cementitious Products
 Fiber Reinforcement Polymers.

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Damage on Column
Repair Technique
No. Category When There is
/Reconstruction

Horizontal cracks greater than 5 mm.

Diagonal cracks greater than 2mm
Buckles and fractured reinforcement bars
Severe - Bind and lap failure of reinforcement bars
Reconstruction
Extreme Extensive disintegration of concrete
Bursting of column
Column noticeably leaning
Joint cracking and spalling

2. Horizontal cracks greater than 2mm, but less than 5 mm

Diagonal cracks greater than 0.5mm but less than 2mm
Moderate-
Partial disintegration of concrete (Repair or retrofitting)
Heavy
Spalling of cover and exposure of the reinforcements

Horizontal crack up to 2mm

Insignificant- (Repair or retrofitting)
Diagonal cracks up to 0.5 mm
Light
Spalling of plaster and hairline cracks in concrete 7
Damage on Beam
No. Category When There is Repair Technique
Vertical cracks greater than 4 mm.
Diagonal cracks greater than 2mm
Buckles or fractured reinforcement bars
Pulling out of beam bars from the supporting
Severe -
columns
Extreme
Extensive disintegration of concrete
Bursting of beam
Beam noticeably sagging
Joint cracking and spalling
Vertical cracks greater than 2mm, but less
2. than 4 mm
Diagonal cracks greater than 0.5mm but less
(Repair or
Moderate- than 2mm
retrofitting)
Heavy Partial disintegration of concrete
Spalling of cover and exposure of the
reinforcements

 Vertical crack up to 2mm

Insignificant Diagonal cracks up to 0.5 mm (Repair or
-Light Spalling of plaster and hairline cracks in retrofitting) 8
concrete
 Classification of damage to buildings of reinforced concrete EMS 398
Damage Grade 1 (DG1) Structural damage: No
Non-Structural Damage: Slight

• Hair line cracks in walls

• Falling small pieces of plasters
• Falling of few loose masonry
units from upper part of the
buildings

Structural damage: Slight

Damage Grade 2 (DG2)
Non-Structural Damage:
moderate
• Minor cracks in
column, beam and
structural walls
• Cracks in partition and
infill walls
• Fall of brittle plaster
and cladding

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 Classification of damage to buildings of reinforced concrete EMS 398

Damage Grade 3 (DG3)

Structural damage: Moderate
Non-Structural Damage: Heavy

• Moderate cracks in columns, beams and structural walls.

• Spalling of concrete covers
• Buckling of steel bars
• Large cracks in partition and infill walls, failure of individual
wall panel

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Damage Assessment Structural Assessment Checklist
Checks Remarks
The frame system provides a complete load
path which transfer all inertial forces in the
Load Path
building to the foundation. Is there is clear load
path?
Is There are more than two bays of frame in
Redundancy
each direction?
The plan of the building is same in all stories
Goemetry
except at basement .
weak/ soft storey Is there are weak/soft storey
Vertical elements in the lateral force resistant
Vertical
element system are continuous to the
discontinuous
foundation. Except for the basement floor
is there is change in mass in adjacent floor of
Mass
the building?
the eccentricity of the building is within the
Torsion
limit?
Adjecent Building there are adjecent building?
short column is there is short column effect?
deterioration of
is there is deterioration of Concrete?
concrete
11
Damage Assessment

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2. Basic Repair techniques for RCC Building

1.Repair of spalling or falling or minor cracks in RC members by

cement slurry or mortar

2.Routing and Sealing

3.Stitching

4.Applying External Stress

5.Cement slurry Grouting/Epoxy-injection Grouting

6.Surface Overlay/ shotcrete or guniting

7.Removing buckled and yielded Reinforcement and adding new

reinforcement
8.Infill wall repair 13
Key Solutions

[P.1] Minor Cosmetic Problem [S.1]Architectural Repair

Local Structural Damaged Structural Restoration by:
[P.3] Crack on the foundation floor [S.2] Repair of Foundation floor
[P.4] Crack on the floor slab of the buildings [S.3] floor slab Crack repair by cement
[P.5] Crack on the beam and column slurry/epoxies
[P.6] Spalling of concrete cover from the beam [S.4] Beam Column Crack Repair by Cement
and column slurry/epoxies
[P.7] Buckling of steel bars from the column. [S.5] Repair of Spalled Concrete from beam
[P.8] damaged on Beam Column Joint. and Column.
Local non-Structural Damage [S.6] Repair of buckled steel from Beam and
[P.9] Damage on infill wall Column.
[P.10] Damage on staircase [S.7] Repair of damaged part of Beam Column
[P.11] Damage on Parapet wall Joint
[P.12] Damage on cladding, Glazing Local non-Structural Damage Repair
Major Structural deficiencies [P.8] Repair on infill wall
[P.9] Repair on staircase
[P.10] Repair on Parapet wall
[P.11] Repair on cladding, Glazing
Structural Retrofitting

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3. Floor Damage at Ground floor and mitigation work
[Key Problem]
F.1Crack in Ground floor
F.2Settlement on floor of
Ground floor
Solution: Minor Crack on floor

Repair of ground floor crack can be done as follows:

1. If there is minor crack on the Ground floor it can
be repair by cement slurry of 1:3 or by suitable
joint sealant.

Problem: Settlement on floor of ground floor.

F.1Minor cracks on floors of ground floor

Solution: Settlement of floor of ground floor.

Repair of settled foundation floor can be done as follows:

F.2Settlement on floor of ground floor
1. If there is floor settlement then level the area first
2. In some case retaining wall may require before
levelling the area of damaged floor.
3. Remove any loose materials from the damaged part
and make the damaged area clean
4. Wash the damaged area with water and moist the
whole area.
5. After levelling soling and concreting (1:1.5:3) of
surface can be done as per necessary
6. Re-plaster the whole area
7. Use cement slurry(1:3) over the plaster. 15
3. Floor Damage at Ground floor and mitigation work

16
4. RCC Beam and Column Damage and Mitigation works

[Key Problem] Problem : Crack or Crushing of Concrete with or without buckling of bars

Potential damages in foundation

are as follows :
P.1 spalling or falling of outer
cover of concrete
P.2 minor structural cracks in
column and beam
P.3 Crushing of concrete with or
without buckling of bars

[Repair Solution]
Repair solution on corresponding
damages in foundation listed above, are :
S.1 Rich Concrete overlay:
S.2 Epoxy Grouting in urban and semi-
urban areas:
S.3 Removing buckled and yielded
reinforcement and adding new
Reinforcement: Damages on Column due to earthquake 17
4. RCC Beam and Column Damage and Mitigation works
• In such case the damage can be repaired by removing the crushed concrete in the area
and re-concreting with rich mix of concrete

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Solution : Rich mix concrete Overlay

• In such case the damage can be repaired by removing the crushed concrete in the area and re-concreting
with rich mix of concrete

Crushed concrete

Damaged Concrete Rich mix concrete overlay

19
Repair of beam column joint damage

Upper part of
column damages

Additional stripping of
concrete cover

lower part of column Strip concrete cover to see

damages the reinforcement

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Solution : column damaged at top and bottom

200cm

1m

1m
1m

1m
Clean before Clean before
concreting concreting

21
Solution : retrofitting of column by adding
stirrups/reinforcement

Damaged structural column Repaired of structural Element

Section of repaired structural element

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9mm plywood
formwork

Existing
Column

9mm plywood
formwork

23
 Beam
Concreted

Column
Concreted

Column Concreted
Existing Concreted

Column Concreted

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 Holes in the slab
for pouring
Cone shaped formwork concrete

Reinforcing bars
9mm plywood
formwork

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Re-Concreting the slab
holes

Chip the protruding concrete part

Chip the protrudin

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27
28
Solution : Retrofitting of inclined columns damaged at the top

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Solution : Retrofitting of inclined columns damaged at the top

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5.RCC Floor Damage and Mitigation works

If the crack are of small size then it can be repair by rich concrete mortar over lay or by some
epoxies. But if the slab has large crack with deteriorated reinforcement, they are repaired by
providing additional reinforcements dowels bars as per building codes and concreting.
Solution: Simple rich concrete and mortar overlay

1. Chisel out the crack to create a backward-angled cut,

using a cold chisel and a hammer.
2. Clean loose material from the crack using a wire
brush, or a portable drill with a wire wheel attachment.
3. Apply at thin layer of rich cement slurry for bonding
between old and new concrete
4. apply rich screed over the prepared surface/

Before

After
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5.RCC Floor Damage and Mitigation works

If the crack are of small size then it can be repair by rich concrete mortar over lay or by some
epoxies. But if the slab has large crack with deteriorated reinforcement, they are repaired by
providing additional reinforcements dowels bars as per building codes and concreting.
Solution: Simple rich concrete and mortar overlay

1. Chisel out the crack to create a backward-angled cut,

using a cold chisel and a hammer.
2. Clean loose material from the crack using a wire
brush, or a portable drill with a wire wheel attachment.
3. Apply at thin layer of rich cement slurry for bonding
between old and new concrete
4. apply rich screed over the prepared surface/

Before

After
32
 Step #1:Supporting the slab, removing the concrete cover, cleaning the steel bars and coating them with epoxy

Solution: RCC slab

repair by adding
reinforcement and
dowels bars
Step #2:Installing vertical and horizontal dowels at 10’’ spacing in each direction

Step #3:Installing the new steel mesh fasten it with dowels

Step #4:pouring the required new layer of concrete

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 Stitching
• Stitching may be used when tensile strength must be re-established
across major cracks.
• Stitching involves
• Drilling holes on both sides of the crack
• Grouting in U-shaped metal units with short legs called staples or
stitching dogs or bolting with steel strips on both sides of crack

Note: Variable length, location and

orientation of dogs so that tension across
crack is distributed in the concrete rather
than concentrated on a single plane Holes drilled in concrete
to received dogs. Fill
holes with non shrink
slurry or epoxy

Stitching dogs

Crack

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 Applying External Stress: Slab
Crack
• The development of cracking
is due to the tensile stress
,thus can be arrested by
suppressing this stress
• Cracks can be closed by
inducing a compression force Tension Tie
Anchorage-Both
to overcome the tensile a). To Correct Cracking sides
of Slab
stresses
• The compressive force is
applied by
Pre-stressing wires or rods
Wedging – by opening the
cracks and filling with
Tension Tie Through
expanding mortar, by Bolted
Crack
jacking and grouting or
b). To Correct Cracking of
by actual driving wedges beam
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6. Other Crack Repair techniques for RCC Structures
For urban and semi-urban area

Grouting and micro-concreting(Repair of minor cracks in RC members )

In case of minor cracking - the RC member can be repaired

by injecting suitable grout as follows:
1
 Remove plaster and any loose material in the vicinity of 1
crack
 Fix the grouting nipples in the cracks at spacing of 6 – 8
inch (150-200 mm) c/c;
 Inject water through the nipple so that the dust inside the
2
cracks is washed off and the concrete is saturated with
water
 Inject the grout till it comes out from the next nipple and
then move to next nipple;
 After injection of grout through all the nipples is
completed, re-plaster the surface and finish as required. Fig: repair of damaged columns with sight crack (1. Cracks 2.
Injection ports)

Fig: Nipple fixing and Grouting

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Advance Material
• Silicone Sealants
• Epoxy
• Hybrid Polyurethanes Sealants
• Polyurethanes Sealants
• Elastic Sealants
• Varnish
• Acrylic Latex Sealants
• Bituminous Sealants
• Synthetic Rubber Sealants Epoxy Sealants
• Thermoplastics Sealants

Elastic
Sealants

Silicon
Sealants
Bituminous Sealants

Types of Sealants
37
Damage on Masonry Wall

38
 Damage on Masonry Wall

Moderate damage to Infill Heavy damage to infill panel

panel

Cutting V-notch and repaired by Replaced masonry due to heavy

cement mortar cracks

Crack repair by injection of Application of Ferro cement on the wall

39
epoxy
 V groove joints cement mortar and flat stone chips
Grout Port

Cement mortar and flat chips in wide cracks

(adapted from: IS 13935:1993)

Material/equipment required
o

o o 1.1:3 cement-sand mortar for sealing of cracks and

o
plastering.
o
2.Galvanized steel wire mesh (with wires of 16 to 14
gauge i.e. 1.5 to 2.03 mm diameter) 1 inch x 1 inch
mesh size.
3.Galvanized steel wire of 12 gauge i.e 3.15 mm
Fixing mesh along wide cracks diameter
(adapted from: IS 13935:1993) 4. 4 inch long nails.

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PART-B : Seismic deficiencies and intervention
Additional intervention might required with respect to inherent structural deficiencies after turning the building
in to pre earthquake condition as per part A. This part deals with possible deficiencies in the masonry buildings
and possible deficiencies on.

1) Inadequate depth and size of the footing

2) Inadequate size of Structural Members
3) Inadequate amount of reinforcement on structural member
4) Missing of bands on masonry walls
5) Vulnerable Parapet walls/staircase
6) Soft/ weak Storey

Intervention for not meeting minimum Requirement

 Improvement for Foundation footing and
providing retaining wall
 Intervention for Beam and column
 Intervention for slab
 Intervention for Masonry infill.

Refer: seismic retrofitting guidelines of

building in Nepal RCC (MoUD-DUDBC)

41
IS Code for Seismic Retrofitting & Guideline of DUDBC

1. IS 15988-2013 for RCC FRAME

SEISMIC EVALUATION AND STRENGTHENING OF EXISTING
REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS — GUIDELINES
3. SEISMIC VULNERABILITY EVALUATION GUIDELINES FOR
PRIVATE & PUBLIC BUILDINGS BY DUDBC

4. Seismic Retrofitting Guidelines of

Buildings in Nepal 2016
Retrofitting Process

Measures:
1) Increasing its strength and/or stiffness
2) Increasing its ductility
3) Reducing the seismic forces.
Driving Principal
1. Minimum cost
2. Minimum intervention
3. Minimum disturbance (to structure,
occupants)

Do not try to fix everything!!!!!

Retrofitting techniques
 5. Strengthening of Column and
beam
1.Provide the required supporting system to
the structure.
2.Remove weak concrete if exist.
3.Clean the surface and clean the rust of
steel if exist.
4.Apply rust removers and rust preventers.
5.Provide additional steel as per design all
around the section.
6.Provide required formwork.
7.Provide polymer based bonding coat
between old and new concrete.
8.Place the concrete of required thickness
and grade and workability admixed with
plasticizers

45
46
Strengthening of original structural elements

Strengthening of reinforced concrete structural elements is one method to increase the earthquake resistance of damage
or undamaged buildings. Repair of reinforced concrete elements is often required after a damaging earthquake to replace
lost strength.
Establishing sound bond between the old and the new concrete is of great importance.it can be provided by chipping
away the concrete cover of the original member and roughening its surface, by preparing the surface with epoxy prior
concreting by additional welding of bent reinforcement bars or by formation of reinforced concrete or steel dowels.

1. Foundation Improvement

Increasing size of footing and

adding the reinforcement
1. Column Improvement

48
49
50
 Wall

Concrete chord reinforcement

Concrete topping

Concrete slab

Clean and roughen

surface
Dowels

Fig: Diaphragm strengthening by steel sections

Strengthening concrete Diaphragm with new toping slab and
chord

Lintel Band

8mmΦ stirrups @150mm

c/c

50mm
Sill Band M20 Concrete
1Part cement
1.5 part sand
25mm
2-8mm Φ 3 part 20mm
Section at X bars down aggregate
Elevation
Adding sill and lintel band externally on masonry wall (see
Correction and exceptional manual for detail) 51
EMS 98: Damage Classification for
RCC structure

52
Thanks

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