The largest earthquake of the 20th century didn't end when the shaking stopped. On July 24, 1960, Chile was still facing one of the most critical, yet lesser-known consequences of the Great Chilean Earthquake (the Valdivia Earthquake). The initial event occurred on May 22, 1960, with an magnitude of M 9.5. But beyond the severe shaking and devastating tsunami, the earthquake triggered massive landslides in southern Chile. In the Región de los Lagos, these landslides blocked the natural outlet of Lake Riñihue into the San Pedro River. The lake level began to rise rapidly, creating the risk of a catastrophic downstream flood that threatened communities like Los Lagos and Valdivia. Enter the Riñihuazo (or Operación Riñihue) — one of Chile’s most significant emergency engineering efforts. Under the leadership of engineer Raúl Sáez, a coalition of workers, military personnel, firefighters, and teams from public and private institutions worked tirelessly under extremely adverse condition...

As Chile continues to face an extended period of severe weather, with persistent rainfall, river overflows, slope instabilities, erosion, infrastructure disruptions, and widespread impacts across multiple regions, an important question emerges: Are we adequately assessing infrastructure resilience through a multi-hazard lens? A recent opinion piece published in La Tercera by Jorge Tobar, President of AICE (the Association of Civil Structural Engineers of Chile), reflects discussions that have emerged within the AICE Board on the need to broaden our traditional understanding of structural safety. For decades, Chile has rightfully earned international recognition for its leadership in earthquake engineering. However, recent events remind us that infrastructure performance depends on much more than seismic resistance. The current weather emergency is demonstrating how multiple hazards can interact simultaneously or sequentially. Intense precipitation may lead to soil saturation, erosion,...

Last June Fernando Yévenes U. had the chance to participate in the Association of Civil Structural Engineers of Chile ( AICE) Networking 2026: “Construyendo Confianza” , an event focused on something quite simple—but at the same time very powerful: the impact of structural engineering in Chilean society. What stood out to him is that the conversation quickly moved away from purely technical topics. Instead, it centered around something we don’t always talk about enough: the role our profession plays in building trust . Because at the end of the day, what we do is not just calculations or design—it’s what allows people to live, move, and work safely without even thinking about it. A few things that resonated One recurring theme across the event was that we are still quite invisible as a profession. Not because the work isn’t valued—actually, quite the opposite. The message was clear: without structural engineering, cities simply wouldn’t stand. But we don’t always do a great job at sho...

Chile is widely regarded as a global reference in seismic engineering, not only due to the intensity of its earthquakes but because of how systematically those events have been translated into engineering standards. Recent updates to key Chilean seismic codes—NCh433 for buildings, NCh2745 for seismic isolation, and NCh2369 for industrial facilities—highlight a clear evolution: from focusing primarily on life safety to incorporating performance and operational resilience, particularly in critical infrastructure. Chile: Engineering Under Extreme Conditions Few countries offer the level of real-world validation that Chile provides for seismic design. Large-magnitude earthquakes occur regularly, subjecting structures to demands that, in other regions, remain largely theoretical. This has enabled an iterative and evidence-based evolution of design standards, where each major event contributes to refining engineering practice. Rather than relying on a single universal framework, Chile’s regu...

Early this year , Fer nando Yévenes U. had the opportunity to step away from the urgency of delivery and spend time reflecting on leadership, transformation, and the systems we are part of, during the GHD Technical Leaders Forum in Houston, Texas. Experiences like these don’t always leave you with answers, sometimes they leave you with better questions. One idea that stayed with him is the concept of polarities. Not problems to solve, but tensions to be lived with, navigated, and continuously balanced. Transformation, after all, is rarely about choosing one side: it is about holding two truths at the same time. A polarity that particularly resonated with him was trust and respect, especially because it doesn’t immediately present itself as one. Trust is about safety, vulnerability, and the quiet confidence that you can be human without fear. Respect, on the other hand, is rooted in competence, capability, and recognition. Trust feels horizontal: we are in this together. Respect feel...

Fernando Yévenes U. , as a member of the AICE board, I had the opportunity to attend the 8th Sustainable Housing Seminar, organized by CENAMAD UC, MINVU and CORFO, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This year, the focus was very clear: how timber and industrialization can transform social housing in Chile into a sustainable, scalable and high-quality solution. It has now been ten years of technological collaboration between MINVU (through DITEC) and CIMUC, during which standards, research, manuals and tools have been developed that today allow us to design sustainable timber housing with solid technical and regulatory backing. Some key takeaways: The city as a “second forest”: timber buildings store biogenic carbon and can become a key piece of climate infrastructure if we scale their use in housing and mid-rise buildings. Tools such as the Diseña Madera platform (with more than 200 timber construction solutions that comply with OGUC) and the new trilogy of ...