Significant portion of existing structures world wide are made of brick masonry units. Earthquakes have shown repeatedly the seismic vulnerability of existing masonry structures. The occurrences of significant damages to existing masonry structures during earthquakes have emphasized the urgent need to develop a simple, inexpensive and effective strengthening technique. A new strengthening/retrofitting technique involving external application of galvanized steel strips was experimentally investigated. The advantages of the proposed techniques include: simplicity, reduced architecture...