Text below the image reads 'More silence?..' Prime Minister John Key and the Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand and several 'hangers-on' almost suffer coronaries when an official suggests in discussions about 'cost-saving ideas' that 'One of the National Projects we could "reprioritise" in the wake of the earthquake is to axe any Kiwi VIP attendance at the royal wedding'. Context - The PM and Governor General are thought to be on the list for invitations to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton but after the catastrophic Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011, which is going to cost the country billions, a wag wonders whether they should go. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows John Key phoning Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee during his recent visit to China. Key tells Gerry he has found an architect friend in China who can design the new Christchurch Cathedral. Wider context refers to the debate over the 3 plans recently released for the Cathedral, but also refers to media debate concerning Key's involvement in instances of preferential appointments - in particular, his claim to have forgotten a phone call to his friend Ian Fletcher in which Key suggested Fletcher should apply to become director of the Government Communications Security Bureau. See Stuff, 3 April 2013. Colour and black and white versions available Quantity: 2 digital cartoon(s).
Haha! This is the day before Mainzeal (see sign on fence at left) announced they had gone into receivership owing millions to the banks and sub-contractors like Smiths whose equipment is here.
Another city walk around, this time with my brother-in-law from Auckland. Also went to the Quake City exhibition in the city organised by the Canterbury Museum. First fine day for a while. For 36 years I worked in a now gone building where that red car is parked (on the left). and would have walked this route thousands of times, yet now it is...
The statue of Captain Cook looks over an empty Victoria Square with autumn leaves lying around. This used to be a very tidy and busy area, but is now nearly all fenced off. Pedestrian access to this section was established about five or six months ago.
Heathcote Valley school strong motion station (HVSC) consistently recorded ground motions with higher intensities than nearby stations during the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. For example, as shown in Figure 1, for the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, peak ground acceleration at HVSC reached 1.4 g (horizontal) and 2 g (vertical), the largest ever recorded in New Zealand. Strong amplification of ground motions is expected at Heathcote Valley due to: 1) the high impedance contrast at the soil-rock interface, and 2) the interference of incident and surface waves within the valley. However, both conventional empirical ground motion prediction equations (GMPE) and the physics-based large scale ground motions simulations (with empirical site response) are ineffective in predicting such amplification due to their respective inherent limitations.
This poster aims to present fragility functions for pipelines buried in liquefaction-prone soils. Existing fragility models used to quantify losses can be based on old data or use complex metrics. Addressing these issues, the proposed functions are based on the Christchurch network and soil and utilizes the Canterbury earthquake sequence (CES) data, partially represented in Figure 1. Figure 1 (a) presents the pipe failure dataset, which describes the date, location and pipe on which failures occurred. Figure 1 (b) shows the simulated ground motion intensity median of the 22nd February 2011 earthquake. To develop the model, the network and soil characteristics have also been utilized
On 22 February 2011, Ōtautahi Christchurch was struck by a devastating earthquake. The city was changed forever: lives were lost, buildings destroyed and much of the city’s infrastructure needed to be repaired or replaced. One of the unexpected outcomes of the process of recovery was the volume of archaeological work that was carried out in the city, including the substantial amount of buildings archaeology that was undertaken (that is, recording standing buildings prior to and during their demolition, using archaeological techniques). Amongst the numerous buildings recorded in this way were 101 houses from across the city (but concentrated in those areas hit hardest by the earthquakes), built between 1850 and 1900. This work yielded a wealth of data about what houses in the city looked like in the nineteenth century. It is this data that forms the core of my thesis, providing an opportunity to examine the question of what life was like in nineteenth century Christchurch through these houses and the people who built them. Christchurch was founded in 1850 by European settlers, most of whom were English. These people came to New Zealand to build a better life for themselves and their families. For many of them, this ‘better life’ included the possibility of owning their own home and, in some instances, building that house (or at least, commissioning its construction). The buildings archaeology data collected following the Canterbury earthquakes enabled a detailed analysis of what houses in the city looked like in the nineteenth century – their form, and both their external and internal appearance – and how this changed as the century progressed. A detailed examination of the lives of those who built 21 of the houses enabled me to understand why each house looked the way it did, and how the interplay of class, budget and family size and expectations (amongst other factors) shaped each house. It is through these life stories that more about life in Christchurch in the nineteenth century was revealed. These are stories of men and women, of success and failure, of businesses and bankruptcies. There are themes that run through the stories: class, appearances, death, religion, gender, improvement. Just as importantly, though, they reveal the everyday experiences of people as they set about building a new city. Thus, through the archaeology of the houses and the history of the people who built them, an earthquake has revealed more about life in nineteenth century Christchurch, as well as providing the means for a deeper understanding of the city’s domestic architecture.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Veteran Christchurch art dealer Jonathan Smart at Queenstown's Toi O Tahuna yesterday, where a valuable collection of New Zealand art has found a temporary home after Mr Smart's new gallery was condemned because of earthquake damage".
A photograph of the earthquake damage the brick fence of a house in Christchurch. Bricks from the broken fence have been stacked on the footpath in front. Liquefaction has been piled on the footpath and road cones placed in front.
A photograph of the earthquake damage the brick fence of a house in Christchurch. Bricks from the broken fence have been stacked on the footpath in front. Liquefaction has been piled on the footpath and road cones placed in front.
A photograph of a kitchen in the back of a van parked in Hagley Park. The van was one of many that were used as temporary accommodation for emergency management personnel who travelled to Christchurch after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Packed to the gunnels: Mataura man Mike Kirby loading his wife Shona's car yesterday with donated baking. The couple left early this morning with a huge amount of donated goods for victims of the Christchurch earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Packed to the gunnels: Mataura man Mike Kirby loading his wife Shona's car yesterday with donated baking. The couple left early this morning with a huge amount of donated goods for victims of the Christchurch earthquake".
Player for the Blackburn Rovers football team, Ryan Nelson, with LT Gore and LTCDR Simon Rooke. Ryan Nelson visited the HMNZS Otago in Lyttelton after the 22 February 2011 earthquake to thank the sailors for their support.
Player for the Blackburn Rovers football team, Ryan Nelson, with LT Gore and LTCDR Simon Rooke. Ryan Nelson visited the HMNZS Otago in Lyttelton after the 22 February 2011 earthquake to thank the sailors for their support.
Kao Wei, Team Leader of the Taiwan USAR team, hugs Mitchell Brown from the New Zealand USAR National Management Team. The Taiwanese team is heading home after helping out with the emergency response to the Canterbury Earthquake.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Cartier Guthrie and Jesse Grossi with Santa (played by Peter Leitch, the Mad Butcher, after he arrived in the police helicopter on Motuihe Island where other disadvantaged earthquake victims from Christchurch spent the day courtesy of Westpac)".
A press release from the Office of the Press Secretary in the US White House about President Obama's call to Prime Minister John Key to express his condolences over the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch and to offer American assistance.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch begins the slow recovery process after last weeks devastating 7.1 earthquake. Prime Minister John Key visits a waste water plant near Bromley. Water lab technician Asli Carol and her son Alexander meet the Prime Minister".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Tracey Ormsby formerly of Blenheim has returned to her parents' home to take a break from the earthquakes in Christchurch. L-R (back) Dave and Janet Aberhart (Tracey's parents) (front) Mia (6), Tracey and Leo (4) Ormsby".
A video of members of the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Army guarding cordons in the Christchurch central city after the 4 September 2010 earthquake. The video also includes footage of a helicopter flying over the central city.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team in the back of a New Zealand Army truck. The ERT members are in Christchurch to help out in the emergency response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A large crack between the road and a concrete slab in New Brighton. The photographer comments, "This is the gap that has been growing during all the Christchurch earthquakes. It is between Robbie's Restaurant and the car park in New Brighton".
Sewerage systems convey sewage, or wastewater, from residential or commercial buildings through complex reticulation networks to treatment plants. During seismic events both transient ground motion and permanent ground deformation can induce physical damage to sewerage system components, limiting or impeding the operability of the whole system. The malfunction of municipal sewerage systems can result in the pollution of nearby waterways through discharge of untreated sewage, pose a public health threat by preventing the use of appropriate sanitation facilities, and cause serious inconvenience for rescuers and residents. Christchurch, the second largest city in New Zealand, was seriously affected by the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) in 2010-2011. The CES imposed widespread damage to the Christchurch sewerage system (CSS), causing a significant loss of functionality and serviceability to the system. The Christchurch City Council (CCC) relied heavily on temporary sewerage services for several months following the CES. The temporary services were supported by use of chemical and portable toilets to supplement the damaged wastewater system. The rebuild delivery agency -Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) was created to be responsible for repair of 85 % of the damaged horizontal infrastructure (i.e., water, wastewater, stormwater systems, and roads) in Christchurch. Numerous initiatives to create platforms/tools aiming to, on the one hand, support the understanding, management and mitigation of seismic risk for infrastructure prior to disasters, and on the other hand, to support the decision-making for post-disaster reconstruction and recovery, have been promoted worldwide. Despite this, the CES in New Zealand highlighted that none of the existing platforms/tools are either accessible and/or readable or usable by emergency managers and decision makers for restoring the CSS. Furthermore, the majority of existing tools have a sole focus on the engineering perspective, while the holistic process of formulating recovery decisions is based on system-wide approach, where a variety of factors in addition to technical considerations are involved. Lastly, there is a paucity of studies focused on the tools and frameworks for supporting decision-making specifically on sewerage system restoration after earthquakes. This thesis develops a decision support framework for sewerage pipe and system restoration after earthquakes, building on the experience and learning of the organisations involved in recovering the CSS following the CES in 2010-2011. The proposed decision support framework includes three modules: 1) Physical Damage Module (PDM); 2) Functional Impact Module (FIM); 3) Pipeline Restoration Module (PRM). The PDM provides seismic fragility matrices and functions for sewer gravity and pressure pipelines for predicting earthquake-induced physical damage, categorised by pipe materials and liquefaction zones. The FIM demonstrates a set of performance indicators that are categorised in five domains: structural, hydraulic, environmental, social and economic domains. These performance indicators are used to assess loss of wastewater system service and the induced functional impacts in three different phases: emergency response, short-term recovery and long-term restoration. Based on the knowledge of the physical and functional status-quo of the sewerage systems post-earthquake captured through the PDM and FIM, the PRM estimates restoration time of sewer networks by use of restoration models developed using a Random Forest technique and graphically represented in terms of restoration curves. The development of a decision support framework for sewer recovery after earthquakes enables decision makers to assess physical damage, evaluate functional impacts relating to hydraulic, environmental, structural, economic and social contexts, and to predict restoration time of sewerage systems. Furthermore, the decision support framework can be potentially employed to underpin system maintenance and upgrade by guiding system rehabilitation and to monitor system behaviours during business-as-usual time. In conjunction with expert judgement and best practices, this framework can be moreover applied to assist asset managers in targeting the inclusion of system resilience as part of asset maintenance programmes.
In this episode of the influential New Zealand architecture series, dapper tour guide David Mitchell looks at the 'Christchurch Style'. He begins with the humble baches on Taylor's Mistake's cliffs, before focusing on the Euro-influenced brutalism of Miles Warren and the "flamboyant" practice of Peter Beaven (earthquake victims SBS House, and Lyttelton Tunnel's "fifth ship" are featured); and the cottage's modern descendent: Don Donnithorne's post-war home. Warren intriguingly compares his process designing Christchurch Town Hall with Jørn Utzon's Sydney Opera House.
Pike River Mine will be put up for sale soon, People allowed into another area of Christchurch cordon, Relative, friends of quake lost describe pain of waiting, Doubts swirl around Rugby World Cup in Christchurch and the ongoing questions surrounding the death of a New Zealander and other tourists in Thailand, Earthquake puts unprecedented pressure on Reserve Bank, Sovereign may not be last failure in struggling building sector, Space shuttle Discovery lands safely in Florida.
A review of the week's news including: The Labour Party's capital gains tax policy announcement, Act's creative director resigns over newspaper ad, day two and three reports from the Pike River Mine tragedy Royal Commission Of Inquiry, the treatment of Crete veterans during recent 70th anniversary commemorations, Sydenham recovery following Christchurch earthquake, Lonely Planet puts Christchurch back on it's visit list and small brewers angry over Radler beer trademark ruling.
A photograph of the rubble from the Observatory tower in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. Scaffolding constructed around the tower has also collapsed and is amongst the rubble. A car and the bumper of another car can be seen under the rubble.
Johanna McCord moved to Christchurch just before the first earthquake in September nearly four years ago. But she fell in love with the city, regardless of its tectonic troubles. Johanna has just set up a blog called 'We Built This City' which is designed to showcase some of Christchurch's businesses and events. More than an information hub, it takes a personal look at some of the people who are really making a difference in the quake struck city.