A construction services group from Scotland has signed a £35 million contract to build 800 earthquake-proof properties in the devastated city of L’Aquila, in central Italy.
Powerwall Systems, from Wishaw, near Glasgow, will be travelling out to the continent after a series of tremors reduced the town to rubble in April, leaving 300 dead.
L’Aquila is situated at the foothills of the Apennines and contains many modern buildings around a historic centre built of stone. However, the disaster uncovered the city’s vulnerability to geological hazards.
All the replacement properties will have “rubberised foundations” and will use Powerwall’s new “volumetric” building systems, according to the firm`s sales director, Alistair Campbell.
He said: “We don’t use traditional foundations. For L’Aquila, we’ll use rubberised foundations, which means that if a future earthquake occurs, the whole building moves with it.
“At the same time, our constructions are 99.8% carbon-neutral and among the most energy efficient in the world, which is an added bonus – but the main aim here is to make sure they remain standing in the event of another earthquake.”
