Aceh emergency support for irrigation – building back better Available to Purchase

The earthquake of 26 December 2004 off the west coast of Sumatra and the resulting tsunami killed 300 000 people and destroyed farmland and irrigation systems. A further earthquake on 28 March 2005 killed 1000 people and damaged structural works on Nias island. This paper describes post-tsunami and -earthquake reconstruction of irrigation systems in Aceh province and Nias, where most of the damage occurred. Design engineers followed the Indonesian government's policy of ‘building back better’ by incorporating earthquake-resistant design in the higher-risk areas. The participatory planning, design and construction approaches are described as well as several innovations in earthquake-resistant design for canals, weirs and other irrigation structures.