A photograph of the earthquake damage to detailing above a door of the Cranmer Courts.
A photograph of a detail of a beam removed from St Paul's-Trinity-Pacific Church.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Christ Church Cathedral. Detail of south wall with boarded up windows".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Detail of damage to the rear of the Crowne Plaza Hotel".
A photograph of a detail of a military armoured vehicle parked on the site of a demolished building.
Detail of the clock tower on the former railway station building on Moorhouse Avenue at the bottom of Madras Street.
Detail of some deconstruction work on the Crowne Plaza Hotel, close up with a digger on a pile of demolition rubble.
A property that appears to be abandoned. Detail of overgrown weeds and bricks behind the fence and the red rubbish bin.
Detail of a building on Tuam Street. A large crack runs down the side of the building where the facade has separated.
Detail of a building on Tuam Street. A large crack runs down the side of the building where the facade has separated.
Detail of the backs of buildings on High Street, seen from St Asaph Street, with some seating and a bench.
A photograph of a detail of a military armoured vehicle parked on the site of a demolished building.
Damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Detail of a photograph of the cathedral taken prior to the earthquakes.
A photograph of a detail of a military armoured vehicle parked on the site of a demolished building.
A photograph of a detail of a military armoured vehicle parked on the site of a demolished building.
A photograph of a detail of a military armoured vehicle parked on the site of a demolished building.
Detail of damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The cross on the roof has been removed.
Detail of damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The cross on the roof has been removed.
A photograph of earthquake damage to a detail above the main entrance of the Cranmer Centre.
A photograph of a detail of the door in the main entrance of the Cranmer Centre.
A photograph of earthquake damage to a detail above the main entrance of the Cranmer Centre.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Detail of a damaged wall at 230 Fitzgerald Avenue".
A report detailing the Liquefaction Trial, the observations, and discussions of the trial interpretation and findings.
A photograph of earthquake damage to a detail above the main entrance of the Cranmer Centre.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "St Luke's Church, Kilmore Street - detail of exposed roof beams".
The recent earthquakes in Christchurch have made it clear that issues exist with current RC frame design in New Zealand. In particular, beam elongation in RC frame buildings was widespread and resulted in numerous buildings being rendered irreparable. Design solutions to overcome this problem are clearly needed, and the slotted beam is one such solution. This system has a distinct advantage over other damage avoidance design systems in that it can be constructed using current industry techniques and conventional reinforcing steel. As the name suggests, the slotted beam incorporates a vertical slot along part of the beam depth at the beam-column interface. Geometric beam elongation is accommodated via opening and closing of these slots during seismically induced rotations, while the top concrete hinge is heavily reinforced to prevent material inelastic elongation. Past research on slotted beams has shown that the bond demand on the bottom longitudinal reinforcement is increased compared with equivalent monolithic systems. Satisfying this increased bond demand through conventional means may yield impractical and economically less viable column dimensions. The same research also indicated that the joint shear mechanism was different to that observed within monolithic joints and that additional horizontal reinforcement was required as a result. Through a combination of theoretical investigation, forensic analysis, and database study, this research addresses the above issues and develops design guidelines. The use of supplementary vertical joint stirrups was investigated as a means of improving bond performance without the need for non-standard reinforcing steel or other hardware. These design guidelines were then validated experimentally with the testing of two 80% scale beam-column sub-assemblies. The revised provisions for bond within the bottom longitudinal reinforcement were found to be adequate while the top longitudinal reinforcement remained nominally elastic throughout both tests. An alternate mechanism was found to govern joint shear behaviour, removing the need for additional horizontal joint reinforcement. Current NZS3101:2006 joint shear reinforcement provisions were found to be more than adequate given the typically larger column depths required rendering the strut mechanism more effective. The test results were then used to further refine design recommendations for practicing engineers. Finally, conclusions and future research requirements were outlined.
Blog from Christchurch business-owner Nicky Arts detailing the rebuild of the Christchurch CBD following the earthquakles of 2010 and 2011.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Christ Church Cathedral. Detail of south wall with damaged masonry and stained glass window".
In today's news, the last two former directors of Bridgecorp are sentenced, and details on the fate of more Christchurch earthquake damaged land.
A detail of a house on Avonside Drive showing how the house has moved off its foundations.