Effects of Fractures on Buildings and Road Construction: A Case Study of Area BZ, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
Structural collapse due to the absence of geophysical information has become a major concern
in the construction and building industries today. In this research, we reported the effect of
fracture on some selected buildings in Area BZ, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Reflex W
software was used to analyze the vertical and horizontal profiles of the subsurface features in
two-dimensional (2D) tomography of seismically related regions. The data were collected using
MK6 Terraloc seismograph. Seismic refraction method was used to obtain relevant information
about the subsurface strata. The velocities of different layers were obtained from the distancetime graph to generate the tomography of the four profiles of 115 m distance each. Results
revealed that there are fractures beneath the surface, starting from the depth of 10 m into the
basement region as evident in the four (4) profiles with variations in the seismic velocities of
1652 to 2086 m/s and 2521 to 2955 m/s for given strata. The 2D tomography of the study area
also revealed that the eastern parts of profiles 1-3 may not be safe for the erection of buildings
and other structures without excavation, while profile 4 revealed high levels of structural
deformation and it is recommended as a high-risk region that will not support engineering
structure. We, however, recommend that further geophysical surveys should be carried out in
the area, using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT).