At 17: 00 on June 1, an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 occurred in Lushan County, Ya ‘an City, Sichuan Province. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development launched a Class III emergency response in accordance with regulations to guide the disaster-stricken areas to carry out emergency assessment of housing construction and municipal infrastructure. The housing and urban-rural construction system of Sichuan Province immediately organized personnel to go to the epicenter to carry out earthquake relief work.
After investigation, there were no casualties caused by the collapse of houses in Ya ‘an city, especially after the Lushan earthquake of magnitude 7.0 in 2013, 1,737 urban houses and 15,125 rural houses newly built in Lushan County did not collapse in the earthquake, and the municipal infrastructure did not appear serious damage. The relevant person in charge said that the highest intensity of the earthquake was 8 degrees. Although the seismic fortification intensity of Lushan County was only 7 degrees, the buildings and municipal infrastructure in the disaster area still withstood the "test" of the earthquake.
The New Appearance of Lushan County after the "4.20" Lushan Earthquake
In recent years, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has thoroughly studied and implemented the important expositions and instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary on disaster prevention, mitigation and relief work, always adhered to the principle of "people first, life first", actively practiced the concepts of "two persistences" and "three changes" in disaster prevention, mitigation and relief, resolutely implemented the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, done a solid job in earthquake prevention and prevention in urban and rural construction, improved the earthquake management system in urban and rural construction, effectively responded to earthquake disasters, and continuously improved the level of earthquake prevention and prevention in urban and rural construction.
In order to implement the relevant decision-making arrangements of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the housing and urban-rural development system in Sichuan Province has comprehensively improved its earthquake-resistant and disaster-prevention capabilities from five aspects: system establishment, standard formulation, talent reserve, hidden danger elimination and emergency response, and effectively and orderly responded to the Lushan earthquake on April 20, Jiuzhaigou earthquake on August 8, Changning earthquake on June 17 and Luxian earthquake on September 16.
Adhere to policies and regulations and establish a management system first.
Sichuan’s housing and urban-rural construction system has effectively played the basic, supportive and leading role of policies and regulations, and strived to improve its ability to perform its duties according to law. By earnestly summing up the experience and lessons of previous earthquakes, it has continuously improved the policy system and built a set of perfect rules and regulations for earthquake prevention and disaster prevention, which has provided an important basis for the development of earthquake prevention and disaster prevention.
Panorama of Wenchuan county
After the "5.12" Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, the "Implementation Opinions on Safety Appraisal, Restoration, Reinforcement and Demolition of Damaged Houses in Wenchuan Earthquake-stricken Areas" was compiled in three months, and issued by the provincial government Decree No.226, which provided policy guidance for the safety appraisal, restoration, reinforcement and demolition of damaged houses in earthquake-stricken areas. In 2013, based on a comprehensive summary of the experience and lessons of construction projects in resisting earthquake disasters since the "5.12" Wenchuan earthquake, the Administrative Measures for Resisting Earthquake Disasters of Construction Projects in Sichuan Province was compiled and issued by the provincial government Decree No.266, which made specific provisions on urban and rural earthquake prevention planning, earthquake fortification of projects, completion acceptance of project construction supervision, seismic use of existing buildings, and legal responsibilities. In 2017, focusing on the difficulties and problems existing in the management of rural housing construction, the first government regulation on rural housing management in China, the Measures for the Management of Rural Housing Construction in Sichuan Province, was promulgated, which clearly stated that it is necessary to enhance the ability of rural housing to resist seismic fortification and natural disasters, and comprehensively implement it in combination with rural housing construction to tackle poverty, and continuously improve the awareness of seismic fortification of rural housing construction in poverty-stricken areas such as Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.
The New Appearance of Yingxiu Town after "5.12" Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction
In August, 2021, after the promulgation of the Regulations on Earthquake-resistant Management of Construction Projects (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations), the housing and urban-rural construction system in Sichuan Province quickly carried out the training on publicizing the Regulations, and popularized the relevant regulations through multiple channels and in all directions, which enhanced the administrative departments and the public’s understanding of the importance of earthquake-resistant management of construction projects and created a good social atmosphere for the implementation of the Regulations. Focusing on the new tasks and requirements put forward in the Regulations, combined with previous practical experience in earthquake resistance, the housing and urban-rural construction system of Sichuan Province is organizing the compilation of local standards related to seismic isolation and shock absorption, so as to provide guarantee for the implementation of the Regulations.
Strengthen scientific and technological support and formulate a set of standard system
Sichuan housing and urban-rural construction system takes technical standards as the criterion and bottom line of engineering construction, pays attention to the research and development and application of earthquake-resistant technology, issues relevant technical standards and regulations, strengthens scientific and technological support, and strictly controls all processes of engineering construction to ensure the implementation of earthquake-resistant and disaster-prevention requirements.
Improve the standard system. Compile and issue a series of local standards on seismic fortification engineering construction, such as Technical Specification for Seismic Appraisal and Reinforcement of Buildings in Sichuan Province, Technical Standard for Assembling Integral Composite Shear Wall Structure in Sichuan Province, Technical Standard for Application of Laminated Rubber Isolation Bearings in Buildings in Sichuan Province, and Technical Standard for Steel Structure of Multi-storey Buildings in High Intensity Areas in Sichuan Province. More than 3 million copies of rural housing general atlas, quality and safety manual and seismic fortification wall chart, such as Technical Guidelines for Seismic Evaluation and Reinforcement of Rural Houses in Sichuan Province and Atlas of Seismic Structure of Rural Residential Buildings in Sichuan Province, were compiled and printed, so as to strengthen the popularization and application of prefabricated concrete structures, steel structures and seismic isolation technologies, and effectively guide the earthquake prevention and disaster prevention work in accordance with regulations.
Strict standards are implemented. Adhere to the requirements of earthquake resistance and disaster prevention in the whole process of site selection, planning, survey, design, construction drawing review, construction, supervision, completion acceptance, use and management of new projects, organize regular spot checks on survey and design quality and major inspections on the quality and safety of projects under construction, strictly examine and approve the seismic fortification of over-limit high-rise buildings, and compact the seismic fortification responsibilities of five main bodies, and implement the one-vote veto system for seismic review of construction drawings, the statistical reporting system for engineering quality and the record of completion acceptance.
Reserve a group of backbone forces around the construction of talent team
Sichuan housing and urban-rural construction system takes the construction of professional and technical personnel as an important starting point to implement the requirements of earthquake resistance and disaster prevention, sets up a team of experts, reserves professional and technical backbones, and improves the service efficiency of professional and technical personnel for earthquake resistance and disaster prevention.
Strengthen technical support. Conduct training for rural construction craftsmen and township construction management personnel in groups and districts, improve the awareness and ability of rural housing construction practitioners in earthquake resistance and disaster prevention, organize graduation examinations, and issue certificates for rural construction craftsmen. By the end of 2021, more than 30,000 rural construction craftsmen had been trained and participated extensively in the whole process of rural housing construction management; At the same time, more than 2,000 front-line supervisors of quality and safety supervision institutions will be trained to ensure the ability of earthquake resistance and disaster prevention of construction projects from the link of project quality supervision. Establish a rural housing construction supervision and inspection system of "going to the township, village, point and household" to ensure the implementation of seismic fortification measures. 143 experts in geotechnical engineering, municipal construction and other fields were selected, and an expert database for seismic review was established to provide technical support and guarantee for the special review of seismic fortification.
Build a strong emergency relief team. Combined with many post-earthquake emergency assessment practices, the training of experts in post-earthquake emergency assessment of housing construction was strengthened, with a total of more than 1200 people trained. Vigorously strengthen the construction of emergency rescue capability, and set up a provincial emergency rescue team consisting of 77 units in six categories: engineering survey, architectural engineering design, municipal engineering design, construction general contracting, engineering supervision and construction engineering quality inspection, which effectively enriched the emergency rescue force and improved the professional ability level of emergency rescue.
Pay close attention to risk investigation and rectification to eliminate a number of potential safety hazards
Sichuan’s housing and urban-rural construction system adheres to the working idea of early detection and early elimination, and coordinated at the provincial, city and county levels to thoroughly investigate and rectify hidden dangers in housing construction, completely eliminate hidden dangers and ensure the safety of the people.
Establish a linkage and coordination mechanism. Issued the work plan for the investigation and rectification of safety risks in housing construction and personnel gathering places, adhered to the "weekly dispatch and monthly notification", held regular coordination mechanism work meetings, and urged the implementation of the work. Actively carry out the first national natural disaster risk survey, and comprehensively find out the basic capacity of disaster-bearing bodies in housing construction and municipal infrastructure to resist natural disasters. Adhere to the principle of "general survey and rectification at the same time", and timely rectify the housing buildings and municipal infrastructure found to have potential safety hazards in the general survey through maintenance and reinforcement, renovation of old residential areas, etc.
Establish an information supervision platform. Take the lead in establishing the "intelligent supervision platform for housing quality and safety in the whole province" in the country, build a database of housing quality and safety, and further improve the dual prevention mechanism of grading management and control of construction safety risks and investigation and management of hidden dangers. The relevant work has been affirmed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the relevant practices have been promoted nationwide.
Carry out special rectification of self-built houses. In accordance with the requirements of the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Printing and Distributing the National Work Plan for Special Renovation of Self-built Houses, we should do a good job of "tackling the key problems in a hundred days", comprehensively find out the seismic capacity of housing buildings, adhere to the principle of "general survey while using", and make every effort to promote the investigation and rectification of potential safety hazards in housing buildings, especially commercial self-built houses.
Continue to promote the transformation of rural housing. By the end of 2021, 15,000 rural houses and 2.58 million rural dangerous houses had been rebuilt, which effectively improved the seismic performance of rural houses.
Pay close attention to wartime rescue and disaster relief to form a set of emergency mechanism
Combined with previous experience in earthquake relief, the housing and urban-rural construction system in Sichuan Province has formed a complete emergency mechanism of command and coordination, post-disaster assessment and emergency rescue based on the actual needs during the post-earthquake emergency rescue.
Strengthen command and coordination. Revise and improve the Earthquake Emergency Plan for Housing and Urban-Rural Construction System in Sichuan Province, establish a coordinated plan mechanism at the provincial, city and county levels, and build an earthquake relief headquarters for the housing and urban-rural construction system in Sichuan Province with the main leaders of the Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Department as the commander and the offices of the organs and the competent departments of housing and urban-rural construction in various cities (states) as members.
Establish a fast response evaluation mechanism. Immediately after the "8.8" Jiuzhaigou earthquake, "6.17" Changning earthquake, "9.16" Luxian earthquake and "6.1" Lushan earthquake, we organized and mobilized trade associations, appraisal institutions, quality supervision institutions and evaluation experts, assembled and went directly to the epicenter within 24 hours, and completed the emergency evaluation of tens of thousands of houses and municipal infrastructure within 96 hours, and passed the evaluation results. At present, the post-earthquake emergency assessment software is being developed and is expected to be put into use this year.
We will make every effort to improve the earthquake resistance and disaster prevention capacity of urban and rural construction and better help the high-quality development of urban and rural construction. The relevant person in charge said that he will continue to follow the important exposition and important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary on disaster prevention, mitigation and relief work as the fundamental principle of earthquake prevention and relief work, always put the safety of people’s lives and property first, adhere to the bottom line thinking, make overall plans for development and safety, lay a solid foundation for earthquake prevention and prevention, make the earthquake prevention and prevention work solid, detailed and well done, effectively guarantee the safety of urban and rural housing construction and municipal engineering, and greet the party’s twentieth victory with practical actions.