Precast floor slabs for Haiti’s reconstruction efforts

Photos: Weckenmann

Reconstruction in earthquake-hit Haiti

Photos: Weckenmann

Precast floor slabs ensure an environmentally friendly building without deforestation

Weckenmann delivered the machinery and equipment for the production of the
precast components

4 a+b

The floor plates, which are subsequently topped with in-situ concrete to form a monolithic floor, are installed in a very simple manner as half-finished components

On 12 January 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake hit the Caribbean island of Haiti. It is estimated that the quake claimed up to 500,000 lives and injured hundreds of thousands more. Furthermore, more than 250,000 houses and 30,000 businesses were destroyed.

Experts believe that a third of the country’s population was directly affected by the disaster. Situated approximately 30 km from the capital of Port-au-Prince, Léogâne attained a sad level of notoriety because 90% of the city was destroyed.

Construction is moving along slowly

Even though most of the damaged houses have been repaired and are habitable, “even two years after the disaster, the reconstruction of the destroyed buildings has been slow,” says Franz Groll, co-founder of the German association Pro Haiti (www.Pro-Haiti.de), which has organized educational projects in Haiti for the...