The Challenges of the Conservation of Earthen Sites in Seismic Areas

During the 1990s, the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) carried out a research and laboratory testing program, the Getty Seismic Adobe Project (GSAP), which investigated the performance of historic adobe structures during earthquakes and developed cost-effective retrofit methods that preserve the authenticity of these buildings. While the GSAP methodology was excellent and effective, it felt its reliance on high-tech materials, equipment and professional expertise was a deterrent to it being more widely implemented. To address this, the GCI initiated in 2009, the Seismic Retrofitting Project (SRP) with the objective of adapting the GSAP approach to better match the equipment, materials, and technical skills available in many countries with earthen sites located in seismic regions. The paper will analyze how the SRP was communicated and bought in by national and international stake holders, how high techniques analysis and low-key testing was combined to better understand the seismic performance of earthen sites, how the knowledge acquired in the process was disseminated among Peruvian and Latin American professionals, how two implementations’ projects were carried out and how a set of guidelines were adopted by Peruvian authorities.