Project News

Holding of Hands on training by Department of Culture

The Department of Culture (DOC), Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs held Hands-on Training in Dangchu gewog (sub-district), Wandgue Dzongkhag (district), inviting engineers and craftsmen (carpenters and masons) from various Dzongkhags for two days from November 3rd to 4th. The purpose of the training is to retrofit an existing building (rammed earth structure) while providing hands-on training to disseminate retrofitting materials, methods and issues. This time, it is retrofitting techniques using mesh and mortar, which is a construction method using low-cost materials that can be procured locally. The rigidity of the wall can be increased by sandwiching the existing soil wall with a high-strength material (mesh mortar layer) from inside and outside. Four Dzongkhags' engineers participated in this hands-on training, who had attended the Training of Trainers (TOT) last month (Oct 2021). There was a total of 20 participants, in this training, including 16 skilled carpenters and masons who are in charge of the site. The seismic retrofitting work is unfamiliar to the participants (engineers and craftsmen), and the DOC counterpart taught them step by step. They learned how to stack meshes, stacking width, anchor bolts that connect meshes on the outer and inner walls, etc. through actual experiencing them. It was connected with a Japanese researcher by videophone, told them about the situation at the site, and received their advice. There was some stagnation on the first day, but on the second day, it was able to be seen the work that grasped the points of the skilled workers, and it seemed that they learned what to convey. DOC videographer team accompanied this training, and the construction status and points of construction was recorded and will be used as educational materials in the future.

Site guidance
Photo courtesy of DOC

Mesh application
Photo courtesy of DOC

Hands on training was introduced in Bhutan Broadcasting Service.

The state of Hands on training conducted by the Department of Culture (DOC), Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs was introduced on the Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS), a national broadcasting company.

• http://www.bbs.bt/news/?p=160299&fbclid=IwAR3Gmb9LfOL65ziHKGu-mGXYToz8mFEMqZEqBb6HE6udGVlnX9HyqJYw0Xo (external link)

In the news, the effect of seismic retrofitting with mesh and mortar is introduced. In addition, the voices of the participating engineers and skilled carpenters of traditional buildings are introduced.

Held a class on the shaking table seismic motion program

On November 24th, a programming class was held at the Department of Culture (DOC), the Ministry of Home and Cultural affairs, to input seismic motion to the shaking table. The equipment layout of the manual and the equipment layout of the actual machine were different, and after so many trails they were able to install the battery. The shaking table can reproduce past earthquakes by programming. With what the counterparts have learned this time, they will be able to experiment with four standby test specimens. They can also hold a gathering for citizens to experience an earthquake on the shaking table. For safety measures, they also make handrails and desks that can be fixed for the shaking table. They will continue to utilize the shaking table more in educational activities and experiments.

CP learning programming
Photo courtesy of DOC