What will they do with all the rubble in Haiti when they start clean up?

[jaxx]

Dump it in the ocean? Can any of it be recycled?

I know it's way early, but I've been wondering about it.

[Ian David]

1. They'll need to build sea walls against rising global sea levels, is my guess.

Or someone will find a way to integrate the rubble into "commemorative coins."

[Warpy]

6. They actually got new land from this one

with the southwest arm of the PauP harbor extending farther out than it did. That's the reason for the mild regional tsunami.

[XemaSab]

16. Or just use the rubble for breakwaters

to protect their new port they will hopefully be getting.

[Posteritatis]

2. A lot of it often can be; it obviously depends on the specific rubble

If a brick wall goes down, most of that's recoverable, for instance.

[LeftyMom]

3. In San Francisco they dumped it in the bay to create more land mass

Which is kind of a bad idea due to liquefaction issues in future earthquakes, but my guess is they'll do exactly that.

[EFerrari]

11. Yep. When we get the big one in SF, my condo willl be playdough.

[Warpy]

4. They'll probably dupicate mamposteria construction

that's used in parts of Mexico. Rocks and other rubble are used as filler within a wooden frame and the whole business has concrete poured into it to secure it. The walls are thick and the houses are cool in the hottest weather.

Unfortunately, it's best suited to geologically stable areas because those walls will crumble anew with even mild temblors.

They won't have a choice in Haiti. They'll do what they always do, make do with far less than they need. However, this is probably the fastest and cheapest way to reconstruct.

[jaxx]

8. Good ideas all, I have zero knowledge on building and waste disposal.

But for a small space they're going to have a lot of trash to dispose of in some way.

[BeFree]

21. Too

The reason most houses were built from concrete is that the many hurricanes that hit there are resisted rather well by all that crete.

This is the first quake in 200+ years so now they'll have to rebuild to take in consideration not only canes but quakes too. Life is hard for them, eh?

[Ex Lurker]

5. they are already salvaging the steel rebar

which is a valuable commodity in Haiti. Ironically, this is a major reason why the damage was so severe--lack of sufficient rebar in concrete construction.

[malaise]

18. That's true in the slums but the hotels

office buildings and President's Palace all used an international building code/ This was a massive earthquake

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Set aside a few tons to bury Limbaugh under.

[jaxx]

9. LOL

:fistbump:

[POAS]

12. There isn't enough rubble for that job there! n/t

[jasi2006]

10. This is an opportunity for "solid waste disposal" reserch to step up.

We may gain a lot of useful knowledge from this catastrophe. One thing I think will be learnd is that hospitals should be built at least as strong as prisons.

[MineralMan]

13. Throughout history, and even before, cities have been built

atop the ruins of the same city. In the Middle East, where cities have been in the same place for 4-6000 years, there are many layers.

When a city is destroyed, by natural or human forces, it is reduced to rubble, and the new city built on top of that rubble. The same will occur in Port au Prince, I'm sure. Transporting rubble is uneconomical. Building on top of it, and using what is usable from it, is economical.

[jaxx]

14. I never thought of that.

But it makes sense.

[MineralMan]

15. Jericho, the oldest known city, has been rebuilt on itself many,

many times. You may remember the Old Testament story of Joshua and his magical trumpets destroying Jericho. Yet, the city still exists, and is studied, layer-by-layer by archaeologists. It is our human history to rebuild over the destruction. Even American cities like New York have layers of rubble under many buildings.

[XemaSab]

17. Hopefully they can crush it down and use it for roads and highways

:shrug:

[Dr.Phool]

19. China will take it.

Convert it into pet food and sell it to us.

[pnwmom]

20. LOL. n/t