Seismic isolation of La Meynard Hospital, Martinique

The new technical support center of La Meynard hospital is meant to be operational just after an earthquake. This lead to design an isolation system. Rubber bearings have been used together with viscous dampers, which enable to decrease the building acceleration from 12.6 m/s² down to 1.6 m/s². A non-linear time history analysis of a simplified model was used to pre-design the isolation and damping system. The detailed calculations, was done by the company NECS on a 3D finite elements model of the structure, which took into account isolators and dampers. This analysis enabled to improve the design, particularly concerning the dampers orientation. The devices were manufactured by Freyssinet and tested according to NF EN 15129 standard. The installation of the devices was performed at the beginning of the construction. Works lasted forty four months from March 2013 to November 2016.