Recently, many public buildings are increasingly exposed to various types of explosions which have led to loss of human lives and enormous physical damages. The increase of building damage is attributed to the fact that the architectural and structural design of
existing buildings did not take into consideration protection against explosions. This paper presents the methods and strategies for protection of buildings from explosions, both during the design phase of new buildings, such as the choice of the site, as well as
measures taken to provide blast resistance to existing buildings such as the establishment of barriers of different types around the building. A comprehensive review of the most important researches published locally and internationally in this field is given. Two public buildings that were previously exposed to explosions are studied and analyzed: the first is Al-Nida mosque in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and the second case is the Italian consulate in the Egyptian capital Cairo. The study includes proposals for protection of the two public buildings against explosions. The main conclusions are presented and recommendations and proposals for future studies are given. |
