Assessment of Earthquake Capacity of Masonry Buildings of Type Gründerzeithäuser in Vienna

ABSTRACT: In Vienna we have about 30.000 masonry buildings, which were built around 1900 ("Gründerzeithäuser"). In 2009 EC8 was put into force. If somebody plans to modify an existing structure significantly, a full earthquake analysis according to EC8 is requested, except for building in a light - weight attic storey. The building authority in Vienna is very restrictive and requests proofs of the earthquake capacity even in the case of stiffening measures. Using available analysis tools, in most cases it will be not possible to prove a sufficient earthquake capacity of old masonry structures, even though we have much practical evidence of undamaged or only slightly damaged masonry buildings from real earthquakes. Hence, altogether the models or the total analysis procedure seems to be not realistic enough. On the other hand one can find a lot of new modelling ideas in literature, which should be tested and practically applied in future.