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Project News

2018-01-31

Monthly Report for January 2018

A Long-term Microtremor Monitoring of a Rammed Earth House

Since December 2017, a team from the Department of Culture (DOC), together with Japanese experts, has been monitoring the unique vibrations of a rammed earth house in relation to the season (or for example, in summer, a house may show bigger shake, but in winter, it may be smaller) and the house's response to an earthquake input. Setting-up a microtremor instrument and its sensors on a typical Bhutanese rammed earth house in Thimphu is akin to attaching an electrocardiograph to the heart. The team will maintain this health monitoring for one year. The data collected regularly by the DOC are sent to Japanese experts for analysis.

PhotoSetting up the microtremor instrument and monitoring the house


DOC Business Trip to Japan

From 26 January, two members of the DOC visited Japan to learn how to maintain a new piece of equipment and to receive hands-on training. Staying for a few days in a Nihon University dormitory, they learnt from a Japanese manufacturer how to maintain the static jack system that will be donated to the DOC in March. They then visited the Tomioka Silk Mill, a World Heritage Site, and observed a timber-frame and brick construction built more than 100 years ago.

PhotoTwo DOC members and Japanese colleagues in front of the Tomioka Silk Mill

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