KARACHI ELECTRIC SUPPLY COMPANY LIMITED

Contract No. KESC 2480-04 (A): Supply of Miscellaneous Equipment,

Erection and Civil Works for 09 Nos 132 kV GIS Hybrid Grid Stations

Report of
cracks in Control House Buildings

Introduction:
GM (PI) KESC vide letter No GM(PI)/2480-04(A)/83 dated 18-02-2011, informed that cracks were found
in building of various substations with Gulshan-e-Maymer G/s having excessive cracks. It was advised to
arrange structural investigations and report actual cause of those cracks.
ABB structural engineer (civil) together with site engineers (civil) visited the following substations on
March 04, 2011:

132 kV Grid station at Gulshan-e-Maymar

132 kV Grid station at Memmon Goth

Observations:
There were cracks in both the buildings. It was learned that those cracks appeared after a recent
earthquake felt in Karachi region. Upon investigation, it was learnt that these cracks were in block
masonry, columns, beams and at intersections of walls. However, these cracks were thin and of regular
pattern. Below pictures depict the nature of cracks.

Vertical Cracks in wall:

These are surface cracks
and are neither deep nor
wide.

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Cracks in Beam and

Columns:
When plaster from column
was removed, there was
no cracks in concrete

No Cracks in Concrete

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Cracks in Interior Wall of

Battery charger room:
A thin wire was inserted in
crack and found that these
are only in plaster

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Discussion:
We know that the horizontal seismic forces are reversible in direction. The structural elements such as
walls, beams and columns that were bearing only vertical loads before the earthquake, these elements
have now to carry horizontal bending and shearing effects as well. When the bending tension due to
earthquake exceeds the vertical compression, net tensile stress will occur. If the building material is weak
in tension such as brick or stone masonry, cracking occurs which reduces the effective area for resisting
bending moment, as shown in Fig.(1). It follows that the strength in tension and shear is important for
earthquake resistance. Since there is no shear cracks in beams. All the cracks developed in non
structural element such as plaster and mortar etc

(Fig-1)
Earthquake damage depends on many parameters, including intensity, duration and frequency content of
ground motion, geologic and soil condition, quality of construction, etc. Building design must be such as
to ensure that the building has adequate strength, high ductility, and will remain as one unit, even while
subjected to very large deformation. Hence the cracks are in regular pattern shows that the building
remains as a unit.

Conclusion:
These cracks are only of surface nature which are neither deep nor wide. These can unlikely to produce
any type of structural damage (Refer to Appendix 1). Based upon above facts and standards practices, as
provided in Appendix, it is concluded:
Cracks in both building are of shallow depth, only in plaster and width range is fine i.e.,
less than 1 mm. Hence, there is no need of any structural repair, refer to Appendix-1 (ACI
201.1R)
Cracks in both buildings fall under category-I because all the cracks in the building are
only in plaster hence there is no need of ay structural repair, refer to Appendix-2
(International Association for Earthquake Engineering, IAEE 1998)

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Appendix-1

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Appendix-2

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