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Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of a presentation by Associate Professor John Vargo during the fifth plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. Vargo is a senior researcher and co-leader of the Resilient Organisations Research Programme at the University of Canterbury. The presentation is titled, "Organisational Resilience is more than just Business Continuity".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: Business Continuity Management is well-established process in many larger organisations and a key element in their emergency planning. Research carried out by resilient organisations follow the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury Earthquakes show that most small organisations did not have a business continuity plan (BCP), yet many of these organisations did survive the massive disruptions following the earthquakes. They were resilient to these catastrophic events, but in the absence of a BCP. This research also found that many of the organisations with BCP's, struggled to use them effectively when facing real events that did not align with the BCP. Although the BCPs did a good job of preparing organisations to deal with technology and operational disruptions, there was virtually no coverage for the continuity of people. Issues surrounding staff welfare and engagement were amongst the most crucial issues faced by Canterbury organisations, yet impacts of societal and personal disruption did not feature in BCPs. Resilience is a systematic way of looking at how an organization can survive a crisis and thrive in an uncertain world. Business continuity is an important aspect for surviving the crisis, but it is only part of the bigger picture addressed by organisational resilience. This presentation will show how organizational experiences in the Canterbury earthquakes support the need to move to a 'Business Continuity' for the '21st Century', one that incorporates more aspects of resilience, especially the 'people' areas of leadership, culture, staff welfare, and engagement.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

During many years the analysis of some geophysical results of Charles Darwin was being carried out in Department. Darwin has connected almost 200 years ago results of catastrophic earthquakes with vertical movement of a surface of the Earth. Usually this movement less horizontal movement and its influence on destruction of cities is not considered. Earthquake hazard assessment studies were focused usually on the horizontal ground motion. Effects of the strong vertical motion were not, practically, discussed. The margins of safety against gravity-induced static vertical forces in constructed buildings usually provide adequate resistance to dynamic forces induced by the vertical acceleration during an earthquake. However, the earthquake in Christchurch is an example of the vertical seismic shock . The earthquake magnitude was rather small - nearby 6.3. However, the result was catastrophic. The same took place in 1835. It allowed to Darwin to formulate a few great ideas. Charles Darwin has explained qualitatively results of an interaction of huge seismic waves with volcanoes and the nature of volcanism and seismicity of our planet. These important data of Charles Darwin became very actual recently. It is possible to tell also the same about tsunami and extreme ocean waves described by Charles Darwin. Therefore this data were analyzed using modern mechanics, mathematics and physics in Department. In particular, the theory of catastrophic waves was developed based on Darwin's data. The theory tried to explain occurrence, evolution and distribution the catastrophic waves in various natural systems, since atoms, oceans, surfaces of the Earth and up to the very early Universe. Some results of the research were published in prestigious magazines. Later they were presented in two books devoted to Charles Darwin's anniversary (2009). Last from them was published in Russian (2011). We give here key ideas of this research which is a part of interdisciplinary researches of Department. Some ideas are discussed. Not less important purpose is very short historical review of some researches of Darwin. In particular, we underline Darwin' priority in the formulation of the bases of Dynamics Earth.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

New Zealand’s stock of unreinforced masonry (URM) bearing wall buildings was principally constructed between 1880 and 1935, using fired clay bricks and lime or cement mortar. These buildings are particularly vulnerable to horizontal loadings such as those induced by seismic accelerations, due to a lack of tensile force-resisting elements in their construction. The poor seismic performance of URM buildings was recently demonstrated in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, where a large number of URM buildings suffered irreparable damage and resulted in a significant number of fatalities and casualties. One of the predominant failure modes that occurs in URM buildings is diagonal shear cracking of masonry piers. This diagonal cracking is caused by earthquake loading orientated parallel to the wall surface and typically generates an “X” shaped crack pattern due to the reversed cyclic nature of earthquake accelerations. Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) is a class of fiber reinforced cement composite that exhibits a strain-hardening characteristic when loaded in tension. The tensile characteristics of ECC make it an ideal material for seismic strengthening of clay brick unreinforced masonry walls. Testing was conducted on 25 clay brick URM wallettes to investigate the increase in shear strength for a range of ECC thicknesses applied to the masonry wallettes as externally bonded shotcrete reinforcement. The results indicated that there is a diminishing return between thickness of the applied ECC overlay and the shear strength increase obtained. It was also shown that, the effectiveness of the externally bonded reinforcement remained constant for one and two leaf wallettes, but decreased rapidly for wall thicknesses greater than two leafs. The average pseudo-ductility of the strengthened wallettes was equal to 220% of that of the as-built wallettes, demonstrating that ECC shotcrete is effective at enhancing both the in-plane strength and the pseudo-ductility of URM wallettes. AM - Accepted Manuscript

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

This project looks at how destroyed architecture, although physically lost, fundamentally continues to exist within human memories as a non-physical entity. The site chosen is Avonside Girls’ High School in Christchurch, New Zealand, a school heavily damaged during the February 22nd earthquake in 2011. The project focuses on the Main Block, a 1930s masonry building which had always been a symbol for the school and its alumni.  The key theories relevant to this are studies on non-material architecture and memory as these subjects investigate the relationship between conceptual idea and the triggering of it. This research aims to study how to fortify a thought-based architecture against neglect, similar to the retrofitting of physical structures.  In doing so, the importance of the emotive realm of architecture and the idea behind a building (as opposed to the built component itself) is further validated, promoting more broadminded stances regarding the significance of the idea over the object. A new method for disaster recovery and addressing trauma from lost architecture is also acquired. Factors regarding advanced structural systems and programmes are not covered within the scope of this research because the project instead explores issues regarding the boundaries between the immaterial and material.  The project methodology involves communicating a narrative derived from the memories alumni and staff members have of the old school block. The approach for portraying the narrative is based on a list of strategies obtained from case studies.  The final product of the research is a new design for the high school, conveyed through a set of atmospheric drawings that cross-examines the boundaries between the physical and non-physical realms by representing the version of the school that exists solely within memories.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of a presentation by David Meates, Chief Executive of the Christchurch District Health Board and the West Coast District Health Board, during the first plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. The presentation is titled, "Local System Perspective".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: The devastating Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 have resulted in challenges for the people of Canterbury and have altered the population's health needs. In the wake of New Zealand's largest natural disaster, the health system needed to respond rapidly to changing needs and damaged infrastructure in the short-term in the context of developing sustainable long-term solutions. Canterbury was undergoing system transformation prior to the quakes, however the horizon of transformation was brought forward post-quake: 'Vision 2020' became the vision for now. Innovation was enabled as people working across the system addressed new constraints such as the loss of 106 acute hospital beds, 635 aged residential care beds, the loss of general practices and pharmacies as well as damaged non-government organisation sector. A number of new integration initiatives (e.g. a shared electronic health record system, community rehabilitation for older people, community falls prevention) and expansion of existing programs (e.g. acute demand management) were focused on supporting people to stay well in their homes and communities. The system working together in an integrated way has resulted in significant reductions in acute health service utilisation in Canterbury. Acute admission rates have not increased and remain significantly below national rates and the number of acute and rehabilitation bed days have fallen since the quakes, with these trends most evident among older people. However, health needs frequently reported in post-disaster literature have created greater pressures on the system. In particular, an escalating number of people facing mental health problems and coping with acute needs of the migrant rebuild population provide new challenges for a workforce also affected by the quakes. The recovery journey for Canterbury is not over.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Industrial steel storage pallet racking systems are used extensively worldwide to store goods. Forty percent of all goods are stored on storage racks at some time during their manufactureto- consumption life. In 2017, goods worth USD 16.5 billion were carried on cold-formed steel racking systems in seismically active regions worldwide. Historically, these racks are particularly vulnerable to collapse in severe earthquakes. In the 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquakes, around NZD 100 million of pallet racking stored goods were lost, with much greater associated economic losses due to disruptions to the national supply chain. A novel component, the friction slipper baseplate, has been designed and developed to very significantly improve the seismic performance of a selective pallet racking system in both the cross-aisle and the down-aisle directions. This thesis documents the whole progress of the development of the friction slipper baseplate from the design concept development to experimental verification and incorporation into the seismic design procedure for selective pallet racking systems. The test results on the component joint tests, full-scale pull-over and snap-back tests and fullscale shaking table tests of a steel storage racking system are presented. The extensive experimental observations show that the friction slipper baseplate exhibits the best seismic performance in both the cross-aisle and the down-aisle directions compared with all the other base-connections tested. It protects the rack frame and concrete floor from damage, reduces the risk of overturning in the cross-aisle direction, and minimises the damage at beam-end connectors in the down-aisle direction, without sustaining damage to the connection itself. Moreover, this high level of seismic performance can be delivered by a simple and costeffective baseplate with almost no additional cost. The significantly reduced internal force and frame acceleration response enable the more cost-effective and safer design of the pallet racking system with minimal extra cost for the baseplate. The friction slipper baseplate also provides enhanced protection to the column base from operational impact damage compared with other seismic resisting and standard baseplates.

Research papers, Lincoln University

Orientation: Large-scale events such as disasters, wars and pandemics disrupt the economy by diverging resource allocation, which could alter employment growth within the economy during recovery. Research purpose: The literature on the disaster–economic nexus predominantly considers the aggregate performance of the economy, including the stimulus injection. This research assesses the employment transition following a disaster by removing this stimulus injection and evaluating the economy’s performance during recovery. Motivation for the study: The underlying economy’s performance without the stimulus’ benefit remains primarily unanswered. A single disaster event is used to assess the employment transition to guide future stimulus response for disasters. Research approach/design and method: Canterbury, New Zealand, was affected by a series of earthquakes in 2010–2011 and is used as a single case study. Applying the historical construction–economic relationship, a counterfactual level of economic activity is quantified and compared with official results. Using an input–output model to remove the economy-wide impact from the elevated activity reveals the performance of the underlying economy and employment transition during recovery. Main findings: The results indicate a return to a demand-driven level of building activity 10 years after the disaster. Employment transition is characterised by two distinct periods. The first 5 years are stimulus-driven, while the 5 years that follow are demand-driven from the underlying economy. After the initial period of elevated building activity, construction repositioned to its long-term level near 5% of value add. Practical/managerial implications: The level of building activity could be used to confidently assess the performance of regional economies following a destructive disaster. The study results argue for an incentive to redevelop the affected area as quickly as possible to mitigate the negative effect of the destruction and provide a stimulus for the economy. Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to a growing stream of regional disaster economics research that assesses the economic effect using a single case study.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

The suburb of New Brighton in Christchurch Aotearoa was once a booming retail sector until the end of its exclusivity to Saturday shopping in 1980 and the aftermath of the devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The suburb of New Brighton was hit particularly hard and fell into economic collapse, partly brought on by the nature of its economic structure. This implosion created an urban crisis where people and businesses abandoned the suburb and its once-booming commercial economy. As a result, New Brighton has been left with the residue of abandoned infrastructure and commercial propaganda such as billboards, ATM machines, commercial facades, and shopping trolleys that as abandoned fragments, no longer contribute to culture, society and the economy. This design-led research investigation proposes to repurpose the broken objects that were left behind. By strategically selecting objects that are symbols of the root cause of the economic devastation, the repurposed and re-contextualised fragments will seek to allegorically expose the city’s destructive economic narrative, while providing a renewed sense of place identity for the people. This design-led thesis investigation argues that the seemingly innocuous icons of commercial industry, such as billboards, ATM machines, commercial facades, and shopping trolleys, are intended to act as lures to encourage people to spend money; ultimately, these urban and architectural lures can contribute to economic devastation. The aim of this investigation is to repurpose abandoned fragments of capitalist infrastructure in ways that can help to unveil new possibilities for a disrupted community and enhance their awareness of what led to the urban disruption. The thesis proposes to achieve this research aim by exploring three principal research objectives: 1) to assimilate and re-contextualise disconnected urban fragments into new architectural interventions; 2) to anthropomorphise these new interventions so that they are recognisable as architectural ‘inhabitants’, the storytellers of the urban context; and 3) to curate these new architectural interventions in ways that enable a community-scale allegorical and didactic experience to be recognised.

Research papers, Lincoln University

A city’s planted trees, the great majority of which are in private gardens, play a fundamental role in shaping a city’s wild ecology, ecosystem functioning, and ecosystem services. However, studying tree diversity across a city’s many thousands of separate private gardens is logistically challenging. After the disastrous 2010–2011 earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, over 7,000 homes were abandoned and a botanical survey of these gardens was contracted by the Government’s Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) prior to buildings being demolished. This unprecedented access to private gardens across the 443.9 hectares ‘Residential Red Zone’ area of eastern Christchurch is a unique opportunity to explore the composition of trees in private gardens across a large area of a New Zealand city. We analysed these survey data to describe the effects of housing age, socio-economics, human population density, and general soil quality, on tree abundance, species richness, and the proportion of indigenous and exotic species. We found that while most of the tree species were exotic, about half of the individual trees were local native species. There is an increasing realisation of the native tree species values among Christchurch citizens and gardens in more recent areas of housing had a higher proportion of smaller/younger native trees. However, the same sites had proportionately more exotic trees, by species and individuals, amongst their larger planted trees than older areas of housing. The majority of the species, and individuals, of the larger (≥10 cm DBH) trees planted in gardens still tend to be exotic species. In newer suburbs, gardens in wealthy areas had more native trees than gardens from poorer areas, while in older suburbs, poorer areas had more native big trees than wealthy areas. In combination, these describe, in detail unparalleled for at least in New Zealand, how the tree infrastructure of the city varies in space and time. This lays the groundwork for better understanding of how wildlife distribution and abundance, wild plant regeneration, and ecosystem services, are affected by the city’s trees.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

This study is a qualitative investigation into the decision-making behaviour of commercial property owners (investors and developers) who are rebuilding in a city centre after a major disaster. In 2010/2011, Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, was a site of numerous earthquakes. The stronger earthquakes destroyed many buildings and public infrastructure in the commercial inner city. As a result, affected property owners lost all or most of their buildings, a significant proportion of which were old and in the last phase of their life span. They had to negotiate pay-outs with insurance companies and decide, once paid out, whether they should rebuild in Christchurch or sell up and invest elsewhere. The clear majority of those who decided to reinvest in and rebuild the city are ‘locals’, almost all of whom had no prior experience of property development. Thus, in a post-disaster environment, most of these property owners have transitioned from being just being passive investors to active property developers. Their experience was interpreted using primary data gathered from in-depth and semi-structured interviews with twenty-one “informed property people” who included commercial property owners; property agents or consultants; representatives of public-sector agencies and financial institutions. The study findings showed that the decision-making behaviour of property investors and developers rebuilding after a major disaster did not necessarily follow a strict financial or profit motive as prescribed in the mainstream or neo-classical economics property literature. Rather, their decision-making behaviour has been largely shaped by emotional connections and external factors associated with their immediate environment. The theoretical proposition emerging from this study is that after a major disaster, local urban property owners are faced with two choices “to stay” or “to go”. Those who decide to stay and rebuild are typically very committed individuals who have a feeling of ownership, belonging and attachment to the city in which they live and work. These are people who will often take the lead in commercial property development, proactively making decisions and seeking positive investment outcomes for themselves which in turn result in revitalised commercial urban precincts.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Soil-structure interaction (SSI) has been widely studied during the last decades. The influence of the properties of the ground motion, the structure and the soil have been addressed. However, most of the studies in this field consider a stand-alone structure. This assumption is rarely justifiable in dense urban areas where structures are built close to one another. The dynamic interaction between adjacent structures has been studied since the early 1970s, mainly using numerical and analytical models. Even though the early works in this field have significantly contributed to understanding this problem, they commonly consider important simplifications such as assuming a linear behaviour of the structure and the soil. Some experimental works addressing adjacent structures have recently been conducted using geotechnical centrifuges and 1g shake tables. However, further research is needed to enhance the understanding of this complex phenomenon. A particular case of SSI is that of structures founded in fine loose saturated sandy soil. An iconic example was the devastating effects of liquefaction in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the Canterbury earthquake in 2011. In the case of adjacent structures on liquefiable soil, the experimental evidence is even scarcer. The present work addresses the dynamic interaction between adjacent structures by performing multiple experimental studies. The work starts with two-adjacent structures on a small soil container to expose the basics of the problem. Later, results from tests considering a more significant number of structures on a big laminar box filled with sand are presented. Finally, the response of adjacent structures on saturated sandy soil is addressed using a geotechnical centrifuge and a large 1g shake table. This research shows that the acceleration, lateral displacement, foundation rocking, damping ratio, and fundamental frequency of the structure of focus are considerably affected by the presence of neighbouring buildings. In general, adjacent buildings reduced the dynamic response of the structure of focus on dry sand. However, the acceleration was amplified when the structures had a similar fundamental frequency. In the case of structures on saturated sand, the presence of adjacent structures reduced the liquefaction potential. Neighbouring structures on saturated sand also presented larger rotation of the footing and lateral displacement of the top mass than that of the stand-alone case.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the effects of a major disaster on the management of human resources in the construction sector. It sets out to identify the construction skills challenges and the factors that affected skills availability following the 2010/2011 earthquakes in Christchurch. It is hoped that this study will provide insights for on-going reconstruction and future disaster response with respect to the problem of skills shortages. Design/methodology/approach A triangulation method was adopted. The quantitative method, namely, a questionnaire survey, was employed to provide a baseline description. Field observations and interviews were used as a follow-up to ascertain issues and potential shortages over time. Three focus groups in the form of research workshops were convened to gain further insight into the feedback and to investigate the validity and applicability of the research findings. Findings The earthquakes in Christchurch had compounded the pre-existing skills shortages in the country due to heightened demand from reconstruction. Skills shortages primarily existed in seismic assessment and design for land and structures, certain trades, project management and site supervision. The limited technical capability available nationally, shortage of temporary accommodation to house additional workers, time needed for trainees to become skilled workers, lack of information about reconstruction workloads and lack of operational capacity within construction organisations, were critical constraints to the resourcing of disaster recovery projects. Research limitations/implications The research findings contribute to the debate on skills issues in construction. The study provides evidence that contributes to an improved understanding of the industry’s skills vulnerability and emerging issues that would likely exist after a major disaster in a resource-limited country such as New Zealand. Practical implications From this research, decision makers and construction organisations can gain a clear direction for improving the construction capacity and capability for on-going reconstruction. Factors that affected the post-earthquake skills availability can be considered by decision makers and construction organisations in their workforce planning for future disaster events. The recommendations will assist them in addressing skills shortages for on-going reconstruction. Originality/value Although the study is country-specific, the findings show the nature and scale of skills challenges the construction industry is likely to face following a major disaster, and the potential issues that may compound skills shortages. It provides lessons for other disaster-prone countries where the resource pool is small and a large number of additional workers are needed to undertake reconstruction.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Following the 2010/2011 Canterbury (New Zealand) earthquakes the seismic design of buildings with precast concrete panels has received significant attention. Although this form of construction generally performed adequately in Christchurch, there were a considerable number of precast concrete panel connection failures. This observation prompted a review of more than 4700 panel details to establish representative details used in both existing and new multi-storey and low rise industrial precast concrete buildings. The detailing and quantity of each reviewed connection type in the sampled data is reported, and advantages and potential deficiencies of each connection type are discussed. Following the Canterbury earthquakes, it was observed that brittle failure had occurred in some grouted metal duct connections used for precast concrete wall panels, resulting in recommendations for more robust detailing of this connection type. A set of experimental tests was subsequently performed to investigate the in-plane seismic behaviour of precast concrete wall panel connections. This testing comprised of seven reversed cyclic in-plane tests of fullscale precast concrete wall panels having wall-to-foundation grouted metal duct connections. Walls with existing connection detailing were found to perform adequately when carrying low axial loads, but performance was found to be less satisfactory as the axial load and wall panel length increased. The use of new recommended detailing was observed to prevent brittle connection response and to improve the robustness of the reinforcement splice. A parametric investigation was conducted using the finite element method to predict the failure mode of metal duct connections. From the results of the parametric study on metal duct connections it was identified that there were three possible failure modes, being reinforcement fracture, concrete spalling without metal duct pull out, and concrete spalling with metal duct pull-out. An alternative simple analytical method was proposed in order to determine the type of connection failure without using a time-consuming finite element method. Grouted sleeves inserts are an alternative connector that is widely used to connect wall panels to the foundations. The two full-scale wall panels were subjected to reversed cyclic in-plane demands until failure of either the connection or the wall panel. Wall panel failure was due to a combination of connection reinforcement pulling-out from the coupler and reinforcement fracture. In addition, non-embedded grouted sleeve tests filled with different quality of grout were conducted by subjecting these coupler assemblages to cyclic and monotonic forces.

Research papers, Lincoln University

During the 21st century, New Zealand has experienced increasing public concern over the quality of the design and appearance of new developments, and their effects on the urban environment. In response to this, a number of local authorities developed a range of tools to address this issue, including urban design panels to review proposals and provide independent advice. Following the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence, the commitment to achieve high quality urban design within Christchurch was given further importance, with the city facing the unprecedented challenge of rebuilding a ‘vibrant and successful city’. The rebuild and regeneration reinforced the need for independent design review, putting more focus and emphasis on the role and use of the urban design panel; first through collaboratively assisting applicants in achieving a better design outcome for their development by providing an independent set of eyes on their design; and secondly in assisting Council officers in forming their recommendations on resource consent decisions. However, there is a perception that urban design and the role of the urban design panel is not fully understood, with some stakeholders arguing that Council’s urban design requirements are adding cost and complexity to their developments. The purpose of this research was to develop a better understanding on the role of the Christchurch urban design panel post-earthquake in the central city; its direct and indirect influence on the built environment; and the deficiencies in the broader planning framework and institutional settings that it might be addressing. Ultimately, the perceived role of the Panel is understood, and there is agreement that urban design is having a positive influence on the built environment, albeit viewed differently amongst the varying groups involved. What has become clear throughout this research is that the perceived tension between the development community and urban design well and truly exists, with the urban design panel contributing towards this. This tension is exacerbated further through the cost of urban design to developers, and the drive for financial return from their investments. The panel, albeit promoting a positive experience, is simply a ‘tick box’ exercise for some, and as the research suggests, groups or professional are determining themselves what constitutes good urban design, based on their attitude, the context in which they sit and the financial constraints to incorporate good design elements. It is perhaps a bleak time for urban design, and more about building homes.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The full scale, in-situ investigations of instrumented buildings present an excellent opportunity to observe their dynamic response in as-built environment, which includes all the real physical properties of a structure under study and its surroundings. The recorded responses can be used for better understanding of behavior of structures by extracting their dynamic characteristics. It is significantly valuable to examine the behavior of buildings under different excitation scenarios. The trends in dynamic characteristics, such as modal frequencies and damping ratios, thus developed can provide quantitative data for the variations in the behavior of buildings. Moreover, such studies provide invaluable information for the development and calibration of realistic models for the prediction of seismic response of structures in model updating and structural health monitoring studies. This thesis comprises two parts. The first part presents an evaluation of seismic responses of two instrumented three storey RC buildings under a selection of 50 earthquakes and behavioral changes after Ms=7.1 Darfield (2010) and Ms=6.3 Christchurch (2011) earthquakes for an instrumented eight story RC building. The dynamic characteristics of the instrumented buildings were identified using state-of-the-art N4SID system identification technique. Seismic response trends were developed for the three storey instrumented buildings in light of the identified frequencies and the peak response accelerations (PRA). Frequencies were observed to decrease with excitation level while no trends are discernible for the damping ratios. Soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects were also determined to ascertain their contribution in the seismic response. For the eight storey building, it was found through system identification that strong nonlinearities in the structural response occurred and manifested themselves in all identified natural frequencies of the building that exhibited a marked decrease during the strong motion duration compared to the pre-Darfield earthquakes. Evidence of foundation rocking was also found that led to a slight decrease in the identified modal frequencies. Permanent stiffness loss was also observed after the strong motion events. The second part constitutes developing and calibrating finite element model (FEM) of the instrumented three storey RC building with a shear core. A three dimensional FEM of the building is developed in stages to analyze the effect of structural, non-structural components (NSCs) and SSI on the building dynamics. Further to accurately replicate the response of the building following the response trends developed in the first part of the thesis, sensitivity based model updating technique was applied. The FEMs were calibrated by tuning the updating parameters which are stiffnesses of concrete, NSCs and soil. The updating parameters were found to generally follow decreasing trends with the excitation level. Finally, the updated FEM was used in time history analyses to assess the building seismic performance at the serviceability limit state shaking. Overall, this research will contribute towards better understanding and prediction of the behavior of structures subjected to ground motion.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

In September 2010 and February 2011 the Canterbury region of New Zealand was struck by two powerful earthquakes, registering magnitude 7.1 and 6.3 respectively on the Richter scale. The second earthquake was centred 10 kilometres south-east of the centre of Christchurch (the region’s capital and New Zealand’s third most populous urban area, with approximately 360,000 residents) at a depth of five kilometres. 185 people were killed, making it the second deadliest natural disaster in New Zealand’s history. (66 people were killed in the collapse of one building alone, the six-storey Canterbury Television building.) The earthquake occurred during the lunch hour, increasing the number of people killed on footpaths and in buses and cars by falling debris. In addition to the loss of life, the earthquake caused catastrophic damage to both land and buildings in Christchurch, particularly in the central business district. Many commercial and residential buildings collapsed in the tremors; others were damaged through soil liquefaction and surface flooding. Over 1,000 buildings in the central business district were eventually demolished because of safety concerns, and an estimated 70,000 people had to leave the city after the earthquakes because their homes were uninhabitable. The New Zealand Government declared a state of national emergency, which stayed in force for ten weeks. In 2014 the Government estimated that the rebuild process would cost NZ$40 billion (approximately US$27.3 billion, a cost equivalent to 17% of New Zealand’s annual GDP). Economists now estimate it could take the New Zealand economy between 50 and 100 years to recover. The earthquakes generated tens of thousands of insurance claims, both against private home insurance companies and against the New Zealand Earthquake Commission, a government-owned statutory body which provides primary natural disaster insurance to residential property owners in New Zealand. These ranged from claims for hundreds of millions of dollars concerning the local port and university to much smaller claims in respect of the thousands of residential homes damaged. Many of these insurance claims resulted in civil proceedings, caused by disputes about policy cover, the extent of the damage and the cost and/or methodology of repairs, as well as failures in communication and delays caused by the overwhelming number of claims. Disputes were complicated by the fact that the Earthquake Commission provides primary insurance cover up to a monetary cap, with any additional costs to be met by the property owner’s private insurer. Litigation funders and non-lawyer claims advocates who took a percentage of any insurance proceeds also soon became involved. These two factors increased the number of parties involved in any given claim and introduced further obstacles to resolution. Resolving these disputes both efficiently and fairly was (and remains) central to the rebuild process. This created an unprecedented challenge for the justice system in Christchurch (and New Zealand), exacerbated by the fact that the Christchurch High Court building was itself damaged in the earthquakes, with the Court having to relocate to temporary premises. (The High Court hears civil claims exceeding NZ$200,000 in value (approximately US$140,000) or those involving particularly complex issues. Most of the claims fell into this category.) This paper will examine the response of the Christchurch High Court to this extraordinary situation as a case study in innovative judging practices and from a jurisprudential perspective. In 2011, following the earthquakes, the High Court made a commitment that earthquake-related civil claims would be dealt with as swiftly as the Court's resources permitted. In May 2012, it commenced a special “Earthquake List” to manage these cases. The list (which is ongoing) seeks to streamline the trial process, resolve quickly claims with precedent value or involving acute personal hardship or large numbers of people, facilitate settlement and generally work proactively and innovatively with local lawyers, technical experts and other stakeholders. For example, the Court maintains a public list (in spreadsheet format, available online) with details of all active cases before the Court, listing the parties and their lawyers, summarising the facts and identifying the legal issues raised. It identifies cases in which issues of general importance have been or will be decided, with the expressed purpose being to assist earthquake litigants and those contemplating litigation and to facilitate communication among parties and lawyers. This paper will posit the Earthquake List as an attempt to implement innovative judging techniques to provide efficient yet just legal processes, and which can be examined from a variety of jurisprudential perspectives. One of these is as a case study in the well-established debate about the dialogic relationship between public decisions and private settlement in the rule of law. Drawing on the work of scholars such as Hazel Genn, Owen Fiss, David Luban, Carrie Menkel-Meadow and Judith Resnik, it will explore the tension between the need to develop the law through the doctrine of precedent and the need to resolve civil disputes fairly, affordably and expeditiously. It will also be informed by the presenter’s personal experience of the interplay between reported decisions and private settlement in post-earthquake Christchurch through her work mediating insurance disputes. From a methodological perspective, this research project itself gives rise to issues suitable for discussion at the Law and Society Annual Meeting. These include the challenges in empirical study of judges, working with data collected by the courts and statistical analysis of the legal process in reference to settlement. September 2015 marked the five-year anniversary of the first Christchurch earthquake. There remains widespread dissatisfaction amongst Christchurch residents with the ongoing delays in resolving claims, particularly insurers, and the rebuild process. There will continue to be challenges in Christchurch for years to come, both from as-yet unresolved claims but also because of the possibility of a new wave of claims arising from poor quality repairs. Thus, a final purpose of presenting this paper at the 2016 Meeting is to gain the benefit of other scholarly perspectives and experiences of innovative judging best practice, with a view to strengthening and improving the judicial processes in Christchurch. This Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association in New Orleans is a particularly appropriate forum for this paper, given the recent ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the plenary session theme of “Natural and Unnatural Disasters – human crises and law’s response.” The presenter has a personal connection with this theme, as she was a Fulbright scholar from New Zealand at New York University in 2005/2006 and participated in the student volunteer cleanup effort in New Orleans following Katrina. http://www.lawandsociety.org/NewOrleans2016/docs/2016_Program.pdf

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Background: Up to 6 years after the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, approximately one-third of parents in the Christchurch region reported difficulties managing the continuously high levels of distress their children were experiencing. In response, an app named Kākano was co-designed with parents to help them better support their children’s mental health. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of Kākano, a mobile parenting app to increase parental confidence in supporting children struggling with their mental health. Methods: A cluster-randomized delayed access controlled trial was carried out in the Christchurch region between July 2019 and January 2020. Parents were recruited through schools and block randomized to receive immediate or delayed access to Kākano. Participants were given access to the Kākano app for 4 weeks and encouraged to use it weekly. Web-based pre- and postintervention measurements were undertaken. Results: A total of 231 participants enrolled in the Kākano trial, with 205 (88.7%) participants completing baseline measures and being randomized (101 in the intervention group and 104 in the delayed access control group). Of these, 41 (20%) provided full outcome data, of which 19 (18.2%) were for delayed access and 21 (20.8%) were for the immediate Kākano intervention. Among those retained in the trial, there was a significant difference in the mean change between groups favoring Kākano in the brief parenting assessment (F1,39=7, P=.012) but not in the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (F1,39=2.9, P=.099), parenting self-efficacy (F1,39=0.1, P=.805), family cohesion (F1,39=0.4, P=.538), or parenting sense of confidence (F1,40=0.6, P=.457). Waitlisted participants who completed the app after the waitlist period showed similar trends for the outcome measures with significant changes in the brief assessment of parenting and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. No relationship between the level of app usage and outcome was found. Although the app was designed with parents, the low rate of completion of the trial was disappointing. Conclusions: Kākano is an app co-designed with parents to help manage their children’s mental health. There was a high rate of attrition, as is often seen in digital health interventions. However, for those who did complete the intervention, there was some indication of improved parental well-being and self-assessed parenting. Preliminary indications from this trial show that Kākano has promising acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness, but further investigation is warranted. Trial Registration: Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12619001040156; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=377824&isReview=true

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

High demolition rates were observed in New Zealand after the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence despite the success of modern seismic design standards to achieve required performance objectives such as life safety and collapse prevention. Approximately 60% of the multi-storey reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in the Christchurch Central Business District were demolished after these earthquakes, even when only minor structural damage was present. Several factors influenced the decision of demolition instead of repair, one of them being the uncertainty of the seismic capacity of a damaged structure. To provide more insight into this topic, the investigation conducted in this thesis evaluated the residual capacity of moderately damaged RC walls and the effectiveness of repair techniques to restore the seismic performance of heavily damaged RC walls. The research outcome provided insights for developing guidelines for post-earthquake assessment of earthquake-damaged RC structures. The methodology used to conduct the investigation was through an experimental program divided into two phases. During the first phase, two walls were subjected to different types of pre-cyclic loading to represent the damaged condition from a prior earthquake, and a third wall represented a repair scenario with the damaged wall being repaired using epoxy injection and repair mortar after the pre-cyclic loading. Comparisons of these test walls to a control undamaged wall identified significant reductions in the stiffness of the damaged walls and a partial recovery in the wall stiffness achieved following epoxy injection. Visual damage that included distributed horizontal and diagonal cracks and spalling of the cover concrete did not affect the residual strength or displacement capacity of the walls. However, evidence of buckling of the longitudinal reinforcement during the pre-cyclic loading resulted in a slight reduction in strength recovery and a significant reduction in the displacement capacity of the damaged walls. Additional experimental programs from the literature were used to provide recommendations for modelling the response of moderately damaged RC walls and to identify a threshold that represented a potential reduction in the residual strength and displacement capacity of damaged RC walls in future earthquakes. The second phase of the experimental program conducted in this thesis addressed the replacement of concrete and reinforcing steel as repair techniques for heavily damaged RC walls. Two walls were repaired by replacing the damaged concrete and using welded connections to connect new reinforcing bars with existing bars. Different locations of the welded connections were investigated in the repaired walls to study the impact of these discontinuities at the critical section. No significant changes were observed in the stiffness, strength, and displacement capacity of the repaired walls compared to the benchmark undamaged wall. Differences in the local behaviour at the critical section were observed in one of the walls but did not impact the global response. The results of these two repaired walls were combined with other experimental programs found in the literature to assemble a database of repaired RC walls. Qualitative and quantitative analyses identified trends across various parameters, including wall types, damage before repair, and repair techniques implemented. The primary outcome of the database analysis was recommendations for concrete and reinforcing steel replacement to restore the strength and displacement capacity of heavily damaged RC walls.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

On the 22nd of February, 2011 the city of Christchurch, New Zealand was crippled by a colossal earthquake. 185 people were killed, thousands injured and what remained was a city left in destruction and ruin. Thousands of Christchurch properties and buildings were left damaged beyond repair and the rich historical architecture of the Canterbury region had suffered irreparably.  This research will conduct an investigation into whether the use of mixed reality can aid in liberating Christchurch’s rich architectural heritage when applied to the context of destructed buildings within Christchurch.  The aim of this thesis is to formulate a narrative around the embodiment of mixed reality when subjected to the fragmentary historical architecture of Christchurch. Mixed reality will aspire to act as the defining ligature that holds the past, present and future of Christchurch’s architectural heritage intact as if it is all part of the same continuum.  This thesis will focus on the design of a memorial museum within a heavily damaged historical trust registered building due to the Christchurch earthquake. It is important and relevant to conceive the idea of such a design as history is what makes everything we know. The memories of the past, the being of the now and the projection of the future is the basis and fundamental imperative in honouring the city and people of Christchurch. Using the technologies of Mixed Reality and the realm of its counter parts the memorial museum will be a definitive proposition of desire in providing a psychological and physical understanding towards a better Christchurch, for the people of Christchurch.  This thesis serves to explore the renovation possibilities of the Canterbury provincial council building in its destructed state to produce a memorial museum for the Christchurch earthquake. The design seeks to mummify the building in its raw state that sets and develops the narrative through the spaces. The design intervention is kept at a required minimum and in doing so manifests a concentrated eloquence to the derelict space. The interior architecture unlocks the expression of history and time encompassed within a destructive and industrialised architectural dialogue. History is the inhabitant of the building, and using the physical and virtual worlds it can be set free.  This thesis informs a design for a museum in central Christchurch that celebrates and informs the public on past, present and future heritage aspects of Christchurch city. Using mixed reality technologies the spatial layout inside will be a direct effect of the mixed reality used and the exploration of the physical and digital heritage aspects of Christchurch. The use of technology in today’s world is so prevalent that incorporating it into a memorial museum for Christchurch would not only be interesting and exploratory but also offer a sense of pushing forward and striving beyond for a newer, fresher Christchurch. The memorial museum will showcase a range of different exhibitions that formulate around the devastating Christchurch earthquake. Using mixed reality technologies these exhibitions will dictate the spaces inside dependant on their various applications of mixed reality as a technology for architecture. Research will include; what the people of Canterbury are most dear to in regards to Christchurch’s historical environment; the use of mixed reality to visualise digital heritage, and the combination of the physical and digital to serve as an architectural mediation between what was, what is and what there could be.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

A non-destructive hardness testing method has been developed to investigate the amount of plastic strain demand in steel elements subjected to cyclic loading. The focus of this research is on application to the active links of eccentrically braced frames (EBFs), which are a commonly used seismic-resisting system in modern steel framed buildings. The 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake series, especially the very intense February 22 shaking, which was the first earthquake worldwide to push complete EBF systems fully into their inelastic state, generating a moderate to high level of plastic strain in EBF active links, for a range of buildings from 3 to 23 storeys in height. This raised two important questions: 1) what was the extent of plastic deformation in active links; and 2) what effect does that have to post-earthquake steel properties? This project comprised determining a robust relationship between hardness and plastic strain in order to be able to answer the first question and provide the necessary input into answering the second question. A non-destructive Leeb (portable) hardness tester (model TH170) has been used to measure the hardness, in order to determine the plastic strain, in hot rolled steel universal sections and steel plates. A bench top Rockwell B was used to compare and validated the hardness measured by the portable hardness tester. Hardness was measured from monotonically strained tensile test specimens to identify the relationship between hardness and plastic strain demand. Test results confirmed a good relationship between hardness and the amount of monotonically induced plastic strain. Surface roughness was identified as an important parameter in obtaining reliable hardness readings from a portable hardness reader. A proper surface preparation method was established by using three different cleaning methods, finished with hand sanding to achieve surface roughness coefficients sufficiently low not to distort the results. This work showed that a test surface roughness (Ra) is not more than 1.6 micron meter (μm) is required for accurate readings from the TH170 tester. A case study on an earthquake affected building was carried out to identify the relationship between hardness and amount of plastic strain demand in cyclically deformed active links. Hardness was carried out from active links shown visually to have been the most affected during one of the major earthquake events. Onsite hardness test results were then compared with laboratory hardness test results. A good relationship between hardness from onsite and laboratory was observed between the test methods; Rockwell B bench top and portable Leeb tester TH170. Manufacturing induced plastic strain in the top and bottom of the webs of hot rolled sections were discovered from this research, an important result which explains why visual effects of earthquake induced active link yielding (eg cracked or flaking paint) was typically more prevalent over the middle half depth of the active link. The extent of this was quantified. It was also evident that the hardness readings from the portable hardness tester are influenced by geometry, mass effects and rigidity of the links. The final experimental stage was application of the method to full scale cyclic inelastic tested nominally identical active links subjected to loading regimes comprising constant and variable plastic strain demands. The links were cyclically loaded to achieve different plastic strain level. A novel Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique was incorporated during the tests of this scale, to confirm the level of plastic strain achieved. Tensile test specimens were water jet cut from cyclically deformed webs to analyse the level of plastic strain. Test results show clear evidence that cyclically deformed structural steel elements show good correlation between hardness and the amount of plastic strain demand. DIC method was found to be reliable and accurate to check the level of plastic strain within cyclically deformed structural steel elements.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The influence of nonlinear soil-foundation-structure interaction (SFSI) on the performance of multi-storey buildings during earthquake events has become increasingly important in earthquake resistant design. For buildings on shallow foundations, SFSI refers to nonlinear geometric effects associated with uplift of the foundation from the supporting soil as well as nonlinear soil deformation effects. These effects can potentially be beneficial for structural performance, reducing forces transmitted from ground shaking to the structure. However, there is also the potential consequence of residual settlement and rotation of the foundation. This Thesis investigates the influence of SFSI in the performance of multi-storey buildings on shallow foundations through earthquake observations, experimental testing, and development of spring-bed numerical models that can be incorporated into integrated earthquake resistant design procedures. Observations were made following the 22 February 2011 Christchurch Earthquake in New Zealand of a number of multi-storey buildings on shallow foundations that performed satisfactorily. This was predominantly the case in areas where shallow foundations, typically large raft foundations, were founded on competent gravel and where there was no significant manifestation of liquefaction at the ground surface. The properties of these buildings and the soils they are founded on directed experimental work that was conducted to investigate the mechanisms by which SFSI may have influenced the behaviour of these types of structure-foundation systems. Centrifuge experiments were undertaken at the University of Dundee, Scotland using a range of structure-foundation models and a layer of dense cohesionless soil to simulate the situation in Christchurch where multi-storey buildings on shallow foundations performed well. Three equivalent single degree of freedom (SDOF) models representing 3, 5, and 7 storey buildings with identical large raft foundations were subjected to a range of dynamic Ricker wavelet excitations and Christchurch Earthquake records to investigate the influence of SFSI on the response of the equivalent buildings. The experimental results show that nonlinear SFSI has a significant influence on structural response and overall foundation deformations, even though the large raft foundations on competent soil meant that there was a significant reserve of bearing capacity available and nonlinear deformations may have been considered to have had minimal effect. Uplift of the foundation from the supporting soil was observed across a wide range of input motion amplitudes and was particularly significant as the amplitude of motion increased. Permanent soil deformation represented by foundation settlement and residual rotation was also observed but mainly for the larger input motions. However, the absolute extent of uplift and permanent soil deformation was very small compared to the size of the foundation meaning the serviceability of the building would still likely be maintained during large earthquake events. Even so, the small extent of SFSI resulted in attenuation of the response of the structure as the equivalent period of vibration was lengthened and the equivalent damping in the system increased. The experimental work undertaken was used to validate and enhance numerical modelling techniques that are simple yet sophisticated and promote interaction between geotechnical and structural specialists involved in the design of multi-storey buildings. Spring-bed modelling techniques were utilised as they provide a balance between ease of use, and thus ease of interaction with structural specialists who have these techniques readily available in practice, and theoretically rigorous solutions. Fixed base and elastic spring-bed models showed they were unable to capture the behaviour of the structure-foundation models tested in the centrifuge experiments. SFSI spring-bed models were able to more accurately capture the behaviour but recommendations were proposed for the parameters used to define the springs so that the numerical models closely matched experimental results. From the spring-bed modelling and results of centrifuge experiments, an equivalent linear design procedure was proposed along with a procedure and recommendations for the implementation of nonlinear SFSI spring-bed models in practice. The combination of earthquake observations, experimental testing, and simplified numerical analysis has shown how SFSI is influential in the earthquake performance of multi-storey buildings on shallow foundations and should be incorporated into earthquake resistant design of these structures.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

A review of the literature showed the lack of a truly effective damage avoidance solution for timber or hybrid timber moment resisting frames (MRFs). Full system damage avoidance selfcentring behaviour is difficult to achieve with existing systems due to damage to the floor slab caused by beam-elongation. A novel gravity rocking, self-centring beam-column joint with inherent and supplemental friction energy dissipation is proposed for low-medium rise buildings in all seismic zones where earthquake actions are greater than wind. Steel columns and timber beams are used in the hybrid MRF such that both the beam and column are continuous thus avoiding beam-elongation altogether. Corbels on the columns support the beams and generate resistance and self-centring through rocking under the influence of gravity. Supplemental friction sliders at the top of the beams resist sliding of the floor whilst dissipating energy as the floor lifts on the corbels and returns. 1:20 scale tests of 3-storey one-by-two bay building based on an earlier iteration of the proposed concept served as proof-of-concept and highlighted areas for improvement. A 1:5 scale 3-storey one-by-one bay building was subsequently designed. Sub-assembly tests of the beam-top asymmetric friction sliders demonstrated repeatable hysteresis. Quasi-static tests of the full building demonstrated a ‘flat bottomed’ flag-shaped hysteresis. Shake table tests to a suite of seven earthquakes scaled for Wellington with site soil type D to the serviceability limit state (SLS), ultimate limit state (ULS) and maximum credible event (MCE) intensity corresponding to an average return period of 25, 500 and 2500 years respectively were conducted. Additional earthquake records from the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes we included. A peak drift of 0.6%, 2.5% and 3.8% was reached for the worst SLS, ULS and MCE earthquake respectively whereas a peak drift of 4.5% was reached for the worst Christchurch record for tests in the plane of the MRF. Bi-directional tests were also conducted with the building oriented at 45 degrees on the shake table and the excitation factored by 1.41 to maintain the component in the direction of the MRF. Shear walls with friction slider hold-downs which reached similar drifts to the MRF were provided in the orthogonal direction. Similar peak drifts were reached by the MRF in the bi-directional tests, when the excitation was amplified as intended. The building self-centred with a maximum residual drift of 0.06% in the dynamic tests and demonstrated no significant damage. The member actions were magnified by up to 100% due to impact upon return of the floor after uplift when the peak drift reached 4.5%. Nonetheless, all of the members and connections remained essentially linearelastic. The shake table was able to produce a limited peak velocity of 0.275 m/s and this limited the severity of several of the ULS, MCE and Christchurch earthquakes, especially the near-field records with a large velocity pulse. The full earthquakes with uncapped velocity were simulated in a numerical model developed in SAP2000. The corbel supports were modelled with the friction isolator link element and the top sliders were modelled with a multi-linear plastic link element in parallel with a friction spring damper. The friction spring damper simulated the increase in resistance with increasing joint rotation and a near zero return stiffness, as exhibited by the 1:5 scale test building. A good match was achieved between the test quasi-static global force-displacement response and the numerical model, except a less flat unloading curve in the numerical model. The peak drift from the shake table tests also matched well. Simulations were also run for the full velocity earthquakes, including vertical ground acceleration and different floor imposed load scenarios. Excessive drift was predicted by the numerical model for the full velocity near-field earthquakes at the MCE intensity and a rubber stiffener for increasing the post joint-opening stiffness was found to limit the drift to 4.8%. Vertical ground acceleration had little effect on the global response. The system generates most of its lateral resistance from the floor weight, therefore increasing the floor imposed load increased the peak drift, but less than it would if the resistance of the system did not increase due to the additional floor load. A seismic design procedure was discussed under the framework of the existing direct displacement-based design method. An expression for calculating the area-based equivalent viscous damping (EVD) was derived and a conservative correction factor of 0.8 was suggested. A high EVD of up to about 15% can be achieved with the proposed system at high displacement ductility levels if the resistance of the top friction sliders is maximised without compromising reliable return of the floor after uplift. Uniform strength joints with an equal corbel length up the height of the building and similar inter-storey drifts result in minimal relative inter-floor uplift, except between the first floor and ground. Guidelines for detailing the joint for damage avoidance including bi-directional movement were also developed.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

This thesis describes the management process of innovation through construction infrastructure projects. This research focuses on the innovation management process at the project level from four views. These are categorised into the separate yet related areas of: “innovation definition”, “Project time”, “project team motivation” and “Project temporary organisation”. A practical knowledge is developed for each of these research areas that enables project practitioners to make the best decision for the right type of innovation at the right phase of projects, through a capable project organisation. The research developed a holistic view on both innovation and the construction infrastructure project as two complex phenomena. An infrastructure project is a long-term capital investment, highly risky and an uncertain. Infrastructure projects can play a key role in innovation and performance improvement throughout the construction industry. The delivery of an infrastructure project is affected in most cases by critical issues of budget constraint, programme delays and safety Where the business climate is characterized by uncertainty, risk and a high level of technological change, construction infrastructure projects are unable to cope with the requirement to develop innovation. Innovation in infrastructure projects, as one of the key performance indicators (KPI) has been identified as a critical capability for performance improvement through the industry. However, in spite of the importance of infrastructure projects in improving innovation, there are a few research efforts that have developed a comprehensive view on the project context and its drivers and inhibitors for innovation in the construction industry. Two main reasons are given as the inhibitors through the process of comprehensive research on innovation management in construction. The first reason is the absence of an understanding of innovation itself. The second is a bias towards research at a firm and individual level, so a comprehensive assessment of project-related factors and their effects on innovation in infrastructure projects has not been undertaken. This study overcomes these issues by adopting as a case study approach of a successful infrastructure project. This research examines more than 500 construction innovations generated by a unique infrastructure alliance. SCIRT (Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team) is a temporary alliancing organisation that was created to rebuild and recover the damaged infrastructure after the Christchurch 2011 earthquake. Researchers were given full access to the innovation project information and innovation systems under a contract with SCIRT Learning Legacy, provided the research with material which is critical for understanding innovations in large, complex alliancing infrastructure organisation. In this research, an innovation classification model was first constructed. Clear definitions have been developed for six types of construction innovation with a variety of level of novelties and benefits. The innovation classification model was applied on the SCIRT innovation database and the resultant trends and behaviours of different types of innovation are presented. The trends and behaviours through different types of SCIRT innovations developed a unique opportunity to research the projectrelated factors and their effect on the behaviour of different classified types of innovation throughout the project’s lifecycle. The result was the identification of specific characteristics of an infrastructure project that affect the innovation management process at the project level. These were categorised in four separate chapters. The first study presents the relationship between six classified types of innovation, the level of novelty and the benefit they come up with, by applying the innovation classification model on SCIRT innovation database. The second study focused on the innovation potential and limitations in different project lifecycle phases by using a logic relationship between the six classified types of innovation and the three classified phases of the SCIRT project. The third study result develops a holistic view of different elements of the SCIRT motivation system and results in a relationship between the maturity level of definition developed for innovation as one of the KPIs and a desire though the SCIRT innovation incentive system to motivate more important innovations throughout the project. The fourth study is about the role of the project’s temporary organisation that finally results in a multiple-view innovation model being developed for project organisation capability assessment in the construction industry. The result of this thesis provides practical and instrumental knowledge to be used by a project practitioner. Benefits of the current thesis could be categorized in four groups. The first group is the innovation classification model that provides a clear definition for six classified types of innovation with four levels of novelty and specifically defined outcomes and the relationship between the innovation types, novelty and benefit. The second is the ability that is provided for the project practitioner to make the best decision for the right type of innovation at the right phases of a project’s lifecycle. The third is an optimisation that is applied on the SCIRT innovation motivation system that enables the project practitioner to incentivize the right type of innovation with the right level of financial gain. This drives the project teams to develop a more important innovation instead of a simple problemsolving one. Finally, the last and probably more important benefit is the recommended multiple-view innovation model. This is a tool that could be used by a project practitioner in order to empower the project team to support innovation throughout the project.