This districtwide project is another knowledge-development and dissemination demonstration project that uses recycled discarded metal roofing to locally produce engineered building materials that make developing world residences safer from seismic and storm damage, and thus save lives.
 
Many developing world areas are highly prone to seismic and wind damage to residences because of lack of access to modern building materials. For example, about a decade ago, Haiti’s capital city experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and had between 100 and 300,000 dead because of building collapses. Remarkably similar to the 2018 earthquake under the Alaskan city of Anchorage which resulted in a broken arm and no deaths.
 
Why?  Anchorage has building codes that require building construction that will not readily collapse in a potentially fatal manner.
 
One of the most important means to avoid injury and death from Billings that claps during natural disasters is to carefully type together all major structural elements using metal attachments.   Such metal attachments, often called “Simpson Clips” in the United States can be fabricated using double-up or tripled-up corrugated metal roofing that has been cut, bent, and drilled to form a makeshift but effective construction material.
 
Among the most commonly discarded materials in developing world landfills is corrugated metal roofing where one section has rusted through and thus is no longer useful as a roofing material. However, by cutting out, shaping, and drilling sections of discarded metal roofing that retained structural strength, one can make useful structural “clips”. 
 
This district 5010 District-wide project involves persons familiar with developing world countries working with Rotarian structural engineers to devise a simple, multi-language illustrated guide to recycling corrugated metal roofing and turning the salvage portions into structural “clips” that help residences survive seismic and storm damage. The costs are minimal, and the work can be done either manually or by simple factory in developing world areas from locally salvage materials.