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Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the former site of the Locke family's house at 392 Oxford Terrace. The Locke's house was deconstructed after their land was zoned Red. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the neighbouring property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed and rebuilt on another site".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a wire fence that has been placed at the border of 406 Oxford Terrace. 406 Oxford Terrace is the former site of Donna Allfrey's house which was demolished after her land was zoned Red. Behind the fence, gravel has been spread over the ground.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the former site of the Locke family's house at 392 Oxford Terrace. The Locke's house was deconstructed after their land was zoned Red. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the neighbouring property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed and rebuilt on another site".

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

20140927_2219_1D3-24 Planting natives at Harold Henry Park A planting of native bushes and trees in the old children's playground area in Bexley, Organised by the Facebook group Avon River Park and assisted by ex Bexley residents. This is right in the middle of the Bexley red zone with most houses removed or demolished now.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Researchers have begun to explore the opportunity presented by blue-green infrastructure(a subset of nature-based solutions that provide blue and green space in urban infrastructure)as a response to the pressures of climate change. The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence created a unique landscape within which there is opportunity to experiment with and invest in new solutions to climate change adaptation in urban centres. Constructed wetlands are an example of blue-green infrastructure that can potentially support resilience in urban communities. This research explores interactions between communities and constructed wetlands to understand how this may influence perceptions of community resilience. The regeneration of the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor (OARC) provides a space to investigate these relationships. Seven stakeholders from the community, industry, and academia, each with experience in blue-green infrastructure in the OARC, participated in a series of semi-structured interviews. Each participant was given the opportunity to reflect on their perspectives of community, community resilience, and constructed wetlands and their interconnections. Interview questions aligned with the overarching research objectives to (1) understand perceptions around the role of wetlands in urban communities, (2) develop a definition for community resilience in the context of the Ōtākaro Avon community, and (3) reflect on how wetlands can contribute to (or detract from) community resilience. This study found that constructed wetlands can facilitate learning about the challenges and solutions needed to adapt to climate change. From the perspective of the community representatives, community resilience is linked to social capital. Strong social networks and a relationship with nature were emphasised as core components of a community’s ability to adapt to disruption. Constructed wetlands are therefore recognised as potentially contributing to community resilience by providing spaces for people to engage with each other and nature. Investment in constructed wetlands can support a wider response to climate change impacts. This research was undertaken with the support of the Ōtākaro Living Laboratory Trust, who are invested in the future of the OARC. The outcomes of this study suggest that there is an opportunity to use wetland spaces to establish programmes that explore the perceptions of constructed wetlands from a broader community definition, at each stage of the wetland life cycle, and at wider scales(e.g., at a city scale or beyond).

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a house at 7 Rees Street. The side of the house has been covered in plastic sheeting. Plywood has been used to board up the door. The number of the house has been spray-painted on the wall next to the door. The letterbox of the house next door also has its house number spray-painted on it.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a shipping container on the footpath outside 392 Oxford Terrace. To the left, the Locke family's house has been partially deconstructed. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. Allfrey has placed a sign in the garden which reads, "It's been a lot of fun - yeah right!". The photographer comments, "'It's been a lot of fun' is a quote from John Key about the Canterbury earthquakes and the 'yeah right' is a play on the Tui Beer advertisements".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a shipping container on the footpath outside 392 Oxford Terrace. To the left, the Locke family's house has been partially deconstructed. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. The front walls has been covered with plastic sheeting. A bow made out of curtains has been pinned to the plastic where the fireplace juts out from the wall. The photographer comments, "The bow is a memorial to Murphy's living room and her life in the house".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. The front walls has been covered with plastic sheeting. A bow made out of curtains has been pinned to the plastic where the fireplace juts out from the wall. The photographer comments, "The bow is a memorial to Murphy's living room and her life in the house".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a sign in the garden of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. The sign reads, "It's been a lot of fun - yeah right!". The photographer comments, "'It's been a lot of fun' is a quote from John Key about the Canterbury earthquakes and the 'yeah right' is a play on the Tui Beer advertisements".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the house number spray-painted on the front of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. To the right, two stickers have also been stuck to the door. The top sticker reads, "Attention, power has been removed". The bottom sticker is the Christchurch City Council's 'yellow sticker', which indicates that access to the building is restricted.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of the removal of the earthquake-damaged Medway Street bridge from the banks of the Avon River. The video shows members of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team removing the bridge and preparing it for transport to the Ferrymead Heritage Park. It will remain at the park until a permanent home can be found for it as an earthquake memorial.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

There are occasional sewerage spills into the Avon River while all the sewer and road repairs are carried out. This rock wall was level and well above high tide level prior to the eathquakes. All the houses that can been seen here (except for those on the distant Port Hills) are in the suburban "red zone" and are still to be demolished.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

A month after the 1st anniversary of the deadly Christchurch earthquake (22/02/11) a road cone lies on New Brighton Road, alongside the Avon River. Part of the earthquake 1st anniversary remembrance was for people to place flowers in road cones (and there are hundreds of thousands in the city). Many had flowers in them, as this one did. Photo ...

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The Avon-Heathcote Estuary is of significant value to Christchurch due to its high productivity, biotic diversity, proximity to the city, and its cultural, recreational and aesthetic qualities. Nonetheless, it has been subjected to decades of degradation from sewage wastewater discharges and encroaching urban development. The result was a eutrophied estuary, high in nitrogen, affected by large blooms of nuisance macroalgae and covered by degraded sediments. In March 2010, treated wastewater was diverted from the estuary to a site 3 km offshore. This quickly reduced water nitrogen by 90% within the estuary and, within months, there was reduced production of macroalgae. However, a series of earthquakes beginning in September 2010 brought massive changes: tilting of the estuary, changes in channels and water flow, and a huge influx of liquefied sediments that covered up to 65% of the estuary floor. Water nitrogen increased due to damage to sewage infrastructure and the diversion pipeline being turned off. Together, these drastically altered the estuarine ecosystem. My study involves three laboratory and five in situ experiments that investigate the base of the food chain and responses of benthic microalgae to earthquake-driven sediment and nutrient changes. It was predicted that the new sediments would be coarser and less contaminated with organic matter and nutrients than the old sediments, would have decreased microalgal biomass, and would prevent invertebrate grazing and bioturbation activities. It was believed that microalgal biomass would become similar across new and old sediments types as the unstable new sediments were resuspended and distributed over the old sediments. Contact cores of the sediment were taken at three sites, across a eutrophication gradient, monthly from September 2011 to March 2012. Extracted chlorophyll a pigments showed that microalgal biomass was generally lower on new liquefied sediments compared to old sediments, although there was considerable site to site variation, with the highly eutrophic sites being the most affected by the emergence of the new sediments. Grazer experiments showed that invertebrates had both positive and negative site-specific effects on microalgal biomass depending on their identity. At one site, new sediments facilitated grazing by Amphibola crenata, whereas at another site, new sediments did not alter the direct and indirect effects of invertebrates (Nicon aestuariensis, Macropthalmus hirtipes, and A. crenata) on microalgae. From nutrient addition experiments it was clear that benthic microalgae were able to use nutrients from within both old and new sediments equally. This implied that microalgae were reducing legacy nutrients in both sediments, and that they are an important buffer against eutrophication. Therefore, in tandem with the wastewater diversion, they could underpin much of the recovery of the estuary. Overall, the new sediments were less favourable for benthic microalgal growth and recolonisation, but were less contaminated than old sediments at highly eutrophic sites. Because the new sediments were less contaminated than the old sediments, they could help return the estuary to a noneutrophic state. However, if the new sediments, which are less favourable for microalgal growth, disperse over the old sediments at highly eutrophic sites, they could become contaminated and interfere with estuarine recovery. Therefore, recovery of microalgal communities and the estuary was expected to be generally long, but variable and site-specific, with the least eutrophic sites recovering quickly, and the most eutrophic sites taking years to return to a pre-earthquake and non-eutrophied state. changes in channels and water flow, and a huge influx of liquefied sediments that covered up to 65% of the estuary floor. Water nitrogen increased due to damage to sewage infrastructure and the diversion pipeline being turned off. Together, these drastically altered the estuarine ecosystem. My study involves three laboratory and five in situ experiments that investigate the base of the food chain and responses of benthic microalgae to earthquake-driven sedimen tand nutrient changes. It was predicted that the new sediments would be coarser and less contaminated with organic matter and nutrients than the old sediments, would have decreased microalgal biomass, and would prevent invertebrate grazing and bioturbation activities. It was believed that microalgal biomass would become similar across new and old sediments types as the unstable new sediments were resuspended and distributed over the old sediments. Contact cores of the sediment were taken at three sites, across a eutrophication gradient, monthly from September 2011 to March 2012. Extracted chlorophyll a pigments showed that microalgal biomass was generally lower on new liquefied sediments compared to old sediments, although there was considerable site to site variation, with the highly eutrophic sites being the most affected by the emergence of the new sediments. Grazer experiments showed that invertebrates had both positive and negative site-specific effects on microalgal biomass depending on their identity. At one site, new sediments facilitated grazing by Amphibola crenata, whereas at another site, new sediments did not alter the direct and indirect effects of invertebrates (Nicon aestuariensis, Macropthalmus hirtipes, and A. crenata) on microalgae. From nutrient addition experiments it was clear that benthic microalgae were able to use nutrients from within both old and new sediments equally. This implied that microalgae were reducing legacy nutrients in both sediments, and that they are

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of Siobhan Murphy outside her house at 436 Oxford Terrace. The front walls of the house have been covered with plastic sheeting. A bow made out of curtains has been pinned to the plastic where the fireplace juts out of the closest wall. The photographer comments, "The bow is a memorial to Murphy's living room and her life in the house".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. The grass has been recently mowed but the dead grass has not been removed. One of the windows has been boarded up with plywood. A yellow sticker on the door indicates that access to the house is restricted. The photographer comments, "The lawn was mowed as part of the maintenance project on red-zoned properties".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the former site of a block of apartments at 440 Oxford Terrace. The apartments were demolished after the land was zoned Red. Grass has begun to grow over the site. The number 466 has been spray-painted on the footpath in front, as well as the numbers of each apartment. This number is the incorrect street number for the site.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A wooden house in Wainoni has visibly bowed inwards towards its centre. The photographer comments, "During the numerous earthquakes in Christchurch the land which ran alongside the Avon river on Avonside Drive slumped towards the waterway. In a line parallel to the road the road, but around 20m away a ground movement occurred which caused some houses to rise up or sink down".

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

With the land dropping about 1metre to 1.4metres after the earthquakes, a few roads besides the Avon and Heathcote Rivers are flooded with very high tides. Extra stop banks (on right) erected after the quakes have helped, but the road is now well below high water level. New Brighton Road, just short of New Brighton. The Pages Road bridge may b...

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. The photograph has been taken from the footpath in front. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the property. A shipping container is resting on the footpath near the right of the property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

20131214_6268_1D3-24 Where once stood houses (Day 348/365) The area beside the lower Avon River in New Brighton of Evans Avenue and Admirals Way has been cleared of houses and boundary fences (there were between 15 and 20 houses on this block) , fully fenced with post and wire and "spray on" grass applied. These were all red zone properties a...

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Prior to the earthquakes (mainly the February 22 2011 event) this park bench was at track level. Shortly after the February quake someone in the council did the sums and realised that the area near the Avon River had dropped between a metre and 1.4m (about 4 foot), so a rush job by contractors shifted in many tonnes of rock and gravel to raise a...

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

20160415_0029_1D3-24 Red Zone Closures The permanent closure (to motor vehicles) of the Bexley red zone streets has started. This was once the main south-north route just west of the Avon River in the New Brighton area, till an expressway (ring road) was built about 80m to the west (right) about 12-13 years ago. Then it became just another ...

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake damage to a section of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. The chimney has fallen off the roof and is now resting in the patio. Behind the chimney, one of the walls has a noticeable lean and the glass of one of the French doors is broken. The photographer comments, "The glass was broken by looters who entered the house and took bits that interested them".

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Thousands of people in Christchurch and around the country paused at 12.51 on Monday afternoon to mark a decade since the February 22 magnitude 6.3 earthquake which claimed 185 lives. It was 10 years ago today when an ordinary Christchurch day turned to hell for so many. But in contrast to the harrowing scenes and sounds of that day, today a large peaceful crowd gathered at the Civic Memorial Service on the banks of the Avon River under large oak trees. Reporter Sally Murphy and cameraman Nate McKinnon were there.