Implications of Basement Inclusion in Buildings in High-Risk Flood Zones in Yenagoa, Nigeria

Warebi Gabriel Brisibe^1, , Precious Ede² and Christopher Aboh³

¹Department of Architecture, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port-Harcourt

²Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Rivers State University, Port-Harcourt

³D’Owems and Abe Consulting (Civil Engineers), Yenizue-Epie, Yenagoa

Cite this paper:
Warebi Gabriel Brisibe, Precious Ede and Christopher Aboh. Implications of Basement Inclusion in Buildings in High-Risk Flood Zones in Yenagoa, Nigeria. American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture. 2021; 9(1):34-41. doi: 10.12691/ajcea-9-1-5

Abstract

Recent and past studies have shown that buildings without cellars or basements are considered to be most appropriate for flood-prone areas. However, a number of buildings constructed with basements have been observed in High-risk flood areas in Nigeria such as Yenagoa. This paper uses a case study approach to examine some of these buildings in the selected areas and the implications or effects of having such subterraneous spaces in these locations without the proper waterproofing or basement tanking methods. The study showed that although knowledge of pluvial flooding and fluvial flooding exists in this region and are often taken into consideration during building construction, what seems to be lacking is a knowledge of groundwater or basement flooding and its implications in building design and construction. The study also showed the extent to which policies address flooding issues and the areas they fall short.

Keywords:
architecture basements floods groundwater Yenagoa

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Ologunorisa, T. (2004) 'An Asessment of Flood Vulnerability zones in the Niger Delta, Nigeria', International Journal of Environmental Studies, 61(1), 31-38.
[2]	Priestly, S. (2017) Flood Risk Management and Funding. Briefing Paper No. CBP07514 (House of Commons Library).
[3]	International Building Code (2006) Chapter 5: General Building Heights and Areas. Retrieved on April 9 from https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/chapter/content/4188/.
[4]	New York Department of City Planning (2017) Glossary of Planning Terms. Retrieved on April 9 from http://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/zoning/glossary.page.
[5]	BSI (British Standards Institution) BS 8102 (2009) Code of practice for protection of below ground structures against water from the ground. BSI, London, UK.
[6]	Filip, R and Robinson, C. (2018). Basement Construction. In P. F. Pallet and R. Filip (Eds) Temporary Works: Principles of Design and Construction (2nd Edition) Ice Publishing.
[7]	Federal Republic of Nigeria (2006). National Building Code (1st Edition) LexisNexis Butterworths, South Africa.
[8]	Brisibe, W.G. (2018). Assessing Architects’ Knowledge of Flood resilient and adaptable Buildings in Yenagoa, Nigeria, Journal of Architecture and Construction, 1(1) 16-24.
[9]	Kusky, T. (2008). Floods: Hazards of Surface and Groundwater Systems, Facts on File Inc. An Imprint of Infobase Publishing, New York.
[10]	Day, R.W. (1996). Moisture Penetration of Concrete Floor Slabs, Basement Walls and Flat Slab Ceilings; Practical Periodical on Structural Design and Construction, 1. 104-107.
[11]	Snallfot, D. (2015). Decision Opportunity and Choice Architecture on the Risk of Basement Floods. (Published MSc Thesis; Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of Gavle, Sweden).
[12]	Olshammer, M. & Baresel, C. (2012). Vattenskador orsakade av baktryck iavloppssystemet – erfarenheter, regler, hantering och tekniska lösningar. Stockholm: IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet.
[13]	Grahn, T. (2010). Ekonomiska konsekvenser av kraftiga skyfall – Tre fallstudier. Karlstad: Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency
[14]	Van Ootegem, L.; Verhofstadt, E.; Van Herck, K.; Creten, T. (2015) Multivariate pluvial flood damage models. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 54, 91-100.
[15]	Rozer, V., Muller, M., Bubeck, P., Kienzler, S., Thieken, A., Pech, I., Schroter, K., Buchholz, O. and Kreibich, H. Coping with Pluvial Floods by Private Households. Water, 2016. 8, 304.
[16]	Kreibich, H, Thieken, A.H, Petrow, T.H, Muller, M. and Merz, B. (2005) Flood loss reduction of private households due to building precautionary measures – lessons learned from the Elbe flood in August 2002, Natural Hazards and Earth System sciences. 5: 117-126.
[17]	Federal Ministry of Environment (2005) National Erosion and Flood Control Policy.
[18]	Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette (May 2011). National Environmental, Soil Erosion and Flood Control regulations, 98(39), B371-398.
[19]	Brisibe, W.G. (2020). A Comparative Review of the Implications of Flooding on Architecture and Planning Policies in the UK and Nigeria, Journal of Architectural Engineering Technology, 9(1) No. 230, 1-9.