One glass trophy presented to SCIRT IST to mark winning the Jurors Favourite Category in the 2014 Canstruction Christchurch competition.
One framed certificate issued to SCIRT in 2013 to mark winning The Press Champion Canterbury Supreme Award in the Medium-Large Enterprise category.
The cartoon shows God sitting at his computer with an image of a devastated Christchurch on the screen. He is about to hit the 'smite' key. Text above reads 'God at his computer'. Context - Two more earthquakes rocked Christchurch on 13th June, following those of 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011. The first magnitude 5.5 quake struck at 1pm, 10 kilometres east of Christchurch at Taylor's Mistake beach, at a depth of 11 kilometres, and sent people scrambling for cover. It was followed at 2.20pm by a more powerful magnitude 6 quake, centred 10 kilometres southeast of the city and 9km underground. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A truck carries a house to a new position and the family in the house wonder if they 'can stay on the truck permanently'. Context - Continuing housing problems in Christchurch following the earthquakes of 4 September 2010 and February 22 and June 13 2011. Many aftershocks are still happening and the ground is unstable in many places. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
One silver medal awarded to SCIRT in October 2013 from the Institution of Civil Engineers in the United Kingdom in recognition of the excellent in civil engineering. Includes storage case and explanation sheet.
One trophy made from a can attached to a wooden base issued to SCIRT as a thank you for participating in Canstruction Christchurch. Features a custom printed label which celebrates teamwork in place of the usual nutritional information.
One green koru shaped trophy issued to SCIRT in 2013 to mark winning The Press Champion Canterbury Supreme Award in the Medium-Large Enterprise category. Includes storage box, envelope and leaflet.
Another house has gone from Seabreeze Close, Pacific Park, Bexley, leaving just the concrete base, a few floor tiles and the smashed toilet (throne). Houses are being demolished (85%) or deconstructed/shifted (15%) as a result of land damage in the major earthquakes of 4th September 2010, 22nd February 2011, 13th June 2011 and 23rd December 2...
The cartoon shows a house for sale in Christchurch after the earthquakes; there is a jagged rip through the house and the road outside that looks like a seismic graph after a lot of activity. The 'For Sale' sign says 'Open Plan living, open home, Seismologist's dream!'. Context - A house wrecked by the Christchurch earthquakes of September 4th 2010, February 22 2011 and June 13 2011. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Text reads 'Canterbury lamb...' and the cartoon shows a slavering wolf that represents 'earthquake' dressed in 'lamb's clothing' and prowling in the night among other sheep. Context - The saying 'a wolf in sheep's clothing' that suggests something sinister sheltering behind something benign. Refers to the devastating Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. A third very damaging earthquake occured on 13th June 2011. 'Canterbury lamb' is well-known as a favourite meat overseas. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A tall building sways and groans, creaks and rumbles during an earthquake. Someone from inside at the top of the building says 'Earthquake? No... This is an extreme adventure activity that you'll be billed for later!' Context - The earthquakes in Christchurch and the Canterbury region. The three major ones were on 4th September 2010, 22 February 2011 and 13 June 2011 and there have been hundreds of aftershocks. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A video capturing an aftershock from the Canterbury earthquake on 13 June 2011, 2:20 pm. A strong shake after lunch time caused Ben Post to set up his camera in his workplace, capturing this aftershock. The camera is mounted on a small sturdy tripod on top of a table with wheels.
Text reads 'New Chch subdivision?...' The cartoon shows a very snowy scene with several igloos; The subdivision is called 'Igloo Park' and the sign says 'Polar packages available'. Context: Christchurch, after being battered by the February 22 earthquake, the June 13 aftershock and last month's snowstorm have had another week of snow. The cartoon suggests that new subdivisions, necessary because of the earthquakes, could be filled with igloos. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
The cartoon consists of the words 'More quACHES' drawn with a stencil. Context - Two more earthquakes rocked Christchurch on 13th June, following those of 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011. The first magnitude 5.5 quake struck at 1pm, 10 kilometres east of Christchurch at Taylor's Mistake beach, at a depth of 11 kilometres, and sent people scrambling for cover. It was followed at 2.20pm by a more powerful magnitude 6 quake, centred 10 kilometres southeast of the city and 9km underground. There is a wordplay on 'quakes' and 'aches'. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
It's been a long road to restore Christchurch's Isaac Theatre Royal, but tonight, it will finally open its doors again. The theatre sustained considerable damage in the earthquakes of 22nd February and 13th June 2011 and continuing shakes have made the restoration particularly difficult for architects. The project architect from Warren and Mahoney, is Vanessa Carswell.
The cartoon shows a daffodil blooming in an earthquake fissure with the wrecked buildings of Christchurch in the background. Context: September 4th is the anniversary of the first quake. Many people in Christchurch are still living in houses that may yet be red stickered (condemned) and many city buildings are still out of bounds, either condemned to destruction or rebuilt after the earthquakes of September 4th 2010 and February 22nd and June 13th 2011. But the return of spring maybe brings a sense of encouragement and hope. Title provided by librarian Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
This paper presents preliminary field observations on the performance of selected steel structures in Christchurch during the earthquake series of 2010 to 2011. This comprises 6 damaging earthquakes, on 4 September and 26 December 2010, February 22, June 6 and two on June 13, 2011. Most notable of these was the 4 September event, at Ms7.1 and MM7 (MM as observed in the Christchurch CBD) and most intense was the 22 February event at Ms6.3 and MM9-10 within the CBD. Focus is on performance of concentrically braced frames, eccentrically braced frames, moment resisting frames and industrial storage racks. With a few notable exceptions, steel structures performed well during this earthquake series, to the extent that inelastic deformations were less than what would have been expected given the severity of the recorded strong motions. Some hypotheses are formulated to explain this satisfactory performance. http://db.nzsee.org.nz/SpecialIssue/44%284%290297.pdf
A man wearing shorts and gumboots stands surrounded by liquefaction beside his collapsing house. He tries to phone the 'Quake helpline' for assistance and gets the response 'You have reached the quake helpline... If you're up to your knees in liquefaction... Press 1. If your house is down around your ears... Press 2. If you're looking for assistance or answers press on'. Context - The increasing frustration and misery of many Christchurch residents who are experiencing huge difficulty getting assistance after months of delays and continuing aftershocks following the Christchurch earthquakes of 4th September, 22 February and the two most recent ones on 13 June. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Two huge wrestlers, one representing 'Port Hills fault' and the other 'Greendale fault' struggle together over a broken Christchurch. Another wrestler, representing 'Other faults' appears in the distance yelling 'Is it my turn yet?' Context - Christchurch has now had three major earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks. It now appears likely that the Christchurch quakes resulted from activity on a fault extending directly eastward from the Alpine fault that remained unknown until last year, says Roger Musson, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh. The new fault first came to light last September (4th) when a stronger but less calamitous quake shook Darfield, 40 kilometres west of Christchurch. Musson says the latest quake (Feb 22, 2011) probably resulted from an eastward continuation of activity on the same fault. "It has probably not moved for tens of thousands of years, so lots of strain built up," says Musson. The third major quake happened on 13th June 2011. (New Scientist - February 22, 2011) Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Context of the project: On 4 September 2010, 22 February 2011, 13 June 2011 and 23 December 2011 Christchurch suffered major earthquakes and aftershocks (well over 10,000) that have left the central city in ruins and many of the eastern suburbs barely habitable even now. The earthquakes on 22 February caused catastrophic loss of life with 185 people killed. The toll this has taken on the residents of Christchurch has been considerable, not least of all for the significant psychological impact and disruption it has had on the children. As the process of rebuilding the city commenced, it became clear that the arts would play a key role in maintaining our quality of life during difficult times. For me, this started with the children and the most expressive of all the art forms – music.
In the early morning of 4th September 2010 the region of Canterbury, New Zealand, was subjected to a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. The epicentre was located near the town of Darfield, 40 km west of the city of Christchurch. This was the country’s most damaging earthquake since the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake (GeoNet, 2010). Since 4th September 2010 the region has been subjected to thousands of aftershocks, including several more damaging events such as a magnitude 6.3 aftershock on 22nd February 2011. Although of a smaller magnitude, the earthquake on 22nd February produced peak ground accelerations in the Christchurch region three times greater than the 4th September earthquake and in some cases shaking intensities greater than twice the design level (GeoNet, 2011; IPENZ, 2011). While in September 2010 most earthquake shaking damage was limited to unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings, in February all types of buildings sustained damage. Temporary shoring and strengthening techniques applied to buildings following the Darfield earthquake were tested in February 2011. In addition, two large aftershocks occurred on 13th June 2011 (magnitudes 5.7 and 6.2), further damaging many already weakened structures. The damage to unreinforced and retrofitted clay brick masonry buildings in the 4th September 2010 Darfield earthquake has already been reported by Ingham and Griffith (2011) and Dizhur et al. (2010b). A brief review of damage from the 22nd February 2011 earthquake is presented here
During 2010 and 2011, major earthquakes caused widespread damage and the deaths of 185 people in the city of Christchurch. Damaged school buildings resulted in state intervention which required amendment of the Education Act of 1989, and the development of ‘site sharing agreements’ in undamaged schools to cater for the needs of students whose schools had closed. An effective plan was also developed for student assessment through establishing an earthquake impaired derived grade process. Previous research into traditional explanations of educational inequalities in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and New Zealand were reviewed through various processes within three educational inputs: the student, the school and the state. Research into the impacts of urban natural disasters on education and education inequalities found literature on post disaster education systems but nothing could be found that included performance data. The impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes on educational inequalities and achievement were analysed over 2009-2012. The baseline year was 2009, the year before the first earthquake, while 2012 is seen as the recovery year as no schools closed due to seismic events and there was no state intervention into the education of the region. National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results levels 1-3 from thirty-four secondary schools in the greater Christchurch region were graphed and analysed. Regression analysis indicates; in 2009, educational inequalities existed with a strong positive relationship between a school’s decile rating and NCEA achievement. When schools were grouped into decile rankings (1-10) and their 2010 NCEA levels 1-3 results were compared with the previous year, the percentage of change indicates an overall lower NCEA achievement in 2010 across all deciles, but particularly in lower decile schools. By contrast, when 2011 NCEA results were compared with those of 2009, as a percentage of change, lower decile schools fared better. Non site sharing schools also achieved higher results than site sharing schools. State interventions, had however contributed towards student’s achieving national examinations and entry to university in 2011. When NCEA results for 2012 were compared to 2009 educational inequalities still exist, however in 2012 the positive relationship between decile rating and achievement is marginally weaker than in 2009. Human ethics approval was required to survey one Christchurch secondary school community of students (aged between 12 and 18), teachers and staff, parents and caregivers during October 2011. Participation was voluntary and without incentives, 154 completed questionnaires were received. The Canterbury earthquakes and aftershocks changed the lives of the research participants. This school community was displaced to another school due to the Christchurch earthquake on 22 February 2011. Research results are grouped under four geographical perspectives; spatial impacts, socio-economic impacts, displacement, and health and wellbeing. Further research possibilities include researching the lag effects from the Canterbury earthquakes on school age children.
The 4 September, 22 February, and 13 June earthquakes experienced in Canterbury, New Zealand would have been significant events individually. Together they present a complex and unprecedented challenge for Canterbury and New Zealand. The repetitive and protracted nature of these events has caused widespread building and infrastructure damage, strained organisations’ financial and human resources and challenged insurer and investor confidence. The impact of the earthquakes was even more damaging coming in the wake of the worst worldwide recession since the great depression of the 1930s. However, where there is disruption there is also opportunity. Businesses and other organisations will drive the physical, economic and social recovery of Canterbury, which will be a dynamic and long-term undertaking. Ongoing monitoring of the impacts, challenges and developments during the recovery is critical to maintaining momentum and making effective mid-course adjustments. This report provides a synthesis of research carried out by the Resilient Organisations (ResOrgs) Research Programme1 at the University of Canterbury and Recover Canterbury in collaboration with Opus Central Laboratories (part of Opus International Consultants). The report includes discussions on the general state of the economy as well as data from three surveys (two conducted by ResOrgs and one by Recover Canterbury) on business impacts of the earthquakes, population movements and related economic recovery issues. This research and report offers two primary benefits:
The title is 'Gambling on the rise in Christchurch'. Several vignettes show two men running in the 'Porta-loo stakes (runs)'; people betting on the 'size of the next shake'; people betting on 'who will have the last chimney standing'; a man sitting over a pot on a little gas ring wondering 'How long will it take to boil a 3 minute egg... when it's minus 10 in the kitchen'; someone in a car wondering 'Whose street can wipe out the most engine sumps'; and someone wondering 'Which power company will be first to put people before profits'. Context: The way of things following the earthquakes of September 4 2010, 22 February 2011 and 13 June 2011. The Problem Gambling Foundation says it is concerned more Christchurch people are turning to gambling to combat stress from earthquakes. It says spending on pokie machines in Christchurch has risen by almost $4 million, going against a downward national trend. The foundation says the data released by the Department of Internal Affairs shows spending on gaming machines rose by more than $3,800,000 in Christchurch city to almost $23 million. (Radio NZ News 26 July 2011) Colour and black and white versions available Quantity: 2 digital cartoon(s).
The collapse of Redcliffs’ cliff in the 22 February 2011 and 13 June 2011 earthquakes were the first times ever a major failure incident occurred at Redcliffs in approximately 6000 years. This master’s thesis is a multidisciplinary engineering geological investigation sought to study these particular failure incidents, focusing on collecting the data necessary to explain the cause and effect of the cliff collapsing in the event of two major earthquakes. This study provides quantitative and qualitative data about the geotechnical attributes and engineering geological nature of the sea-cut cliff located at Redcliffs. Results from surveying the geology of Redcliffs show that the exposed lithology of the cliff face is a variably jointed rock body of welded and (relatively intact) unwelded ignimbrite, a predominantly massive unit of brecciated tuff, and a covering of wind-blown loess and soil deposit (commonly found throughout Canterbury) on top of the cliff. Moreover, detailing the external component of the slope profile shows that Redcliffs’ cliff is a 40 – 80 m cliff with two intersecting (NE and SE facing) slope aspects. The (remotely) measured geometry of the cliff face comprises of multiple outstanding gradients, averaging a slope angle of ~67 degrees (post-13 June 2011), where the steepest components are ~80 degrees, whereas the gentle sloping sections are ~44 degrees. The physical structure of Redcliffs’ cliff drastically changed after each collapse, whereby seismically induced alterations to the slope geometry resulted in material deposited on the talus at the base of the cliff. Prior to the first collapse, the variance of the gradient down the slope was minimal, with the SE Face being the most variable with up to three major gradients on one cross section. However, after each major collapse, the variability increased with more parts of the cliff face having more than one major gradient that is steeper or gentler than the remainder of the slope. The estimated volume of material lost as a result of the gradient changes was 28,267 m³ in February and 11,360 m³ in June 2011. In addition, surveys of the cliff top after the failure incidents revealed the development of fissures along the cliff edge. Monitoring 10 fissures over three months indicated that fissured by the cliff edge respond to intense seismicity (generally ≥ Mw 4) by widening. Redcliffs’ cliff collapsed on two separate occasions as a result of an accumulated amount of damage of the rock masses in the cliff (caused by weathering and erosion over time), and two Mw 6.2 trigger earthquakes which shook the Redcliffs and the surrounding area at a Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) estimated to be around 2 g. The results of the theoretical study suggests that PGA levels felt on-site during both instances of failure are the result of three major factors: source of the quake and the site affected; topographic amplification of the ground movement; the short distance between the source and the cliff for both fault ruptures; the focus of seismic energy in the direction of thrust faulting along a path that intercepts Redcliffs (and the Port Hills). Ultimately, failure on the NE and SE Faces of Redcliffs’ cliff was concluded to be global as every part of the exposed cliff face deposited a significant volume of material on the talus at the base of the cliff, with the exception of one section on the NE Face. The cliff collapses was a concurrent process that is a single (non-monotonic) event that operated as a complex series of (primarily) toppling rock falls, some sliding of blocks, and slumping of the soil mantle on top of the cliff. The first collapse had a mixture of equivalent continua slope movement of the heavily weathered / damaged surface of the cliff face, and discontinuous slope movement of the jointed inner slope (behind the heavily weathered surface); whereas the second collapse resulted in only discontinuous slope movement on account of the freshly exposed cliff face that had damage to the rock masses, in the form of old and (relatively) new discontinuous fractures, induced by earthquakes and aftershocks leading up to the point of failure.
As the result of the September 4th 2010 Canterbury earthquake and associated aftershocks on February 22nd 2011 and June 13th 2011, final examinations in the two 100 level economics papers at Canterbury University were cancelled at short notice in semester one 2011. The final examination weightings were spread over the remaining assessments to obtain a final grade for students. This paper attempts to establish how different online assessment conditions affect final grade distributions when online assessments are substituted for an invigilated final examination. Pearson correlation coefficients and Spearman rank order correlation coefficients are used to show that there is a greater correlation between online quizzes and invigilated assessments when those quizzes are only available for a restricted period of time, compared to the whole semester. We find that online quizzes are more closely correlated with invigilated assessments when the first attempt at a quiz is recorded, as opposed to the highest of two attempts. We also find that using the first attempt leads to less grade disruption when compared to a “normal” semester that includes a final examination. Finally, the actual impact on student grades when online quizzes are substituted for a final examination is discussed.
The Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand’s South Island induced widespread liquefaction phenomena across the Christchurch urban area on four occasions (4 Sept 2010; 22 Feb; 13 June; 23 Dec 2011), that resulted in widespread ejection of silt and fine sand. This impacted transport networks as well as infiltrated and contaminated the damaged storm water system, making rapid clean-up an immediate post-earthquake priority. In some places the ejecta was contaminated by raw sewage and was readily remobilised in dry windy conditions, creating a long-term health risk to the population. Thousands of residential properties were inundated with liquefaction ejecta, however residents typically lacked the capacity (time or resources) to clean-up without external assistance. The liquefaction silt clean-up response was co-ordinated by the Christchurch City Council and executed by a network of contractors and volunteer groups, including the ‘Farmy-Army’ and the ‘Student-Army’. The duration of clean-up time of residential properties and the road network was approximately 2 months for each of the 3 main liquefaction inducing earthquakes; despite each event producing different volumes of ejecta. Preliminary cost estimates indicate total clean-up costs will be over NZ$25 million. Over 500,000 tonnes of ejecta has been stockpiled at Burwood landfill since the beginning of the Canterbury earthquakes sequence. The liquefaction clean-up experience in Christchurch following the 2010-2011 earthquake sequence has emerged as a valuable case study to support further analysis and research on the coordination, management and costs of large volume deposition of fine grained sediment in urban areas.
Novel Gel-push sampling was employed to obtain high quality samples of Christchurch sands from the Central Business District, at sites where liquefaction was observed in 22 February 2011, and 13 June 2011 earthquakes. The results of cyclic triaxial testing on selected undisturbed specimens of typical Christchurch sands are presented and compared to empirical procedures used by practitioners. This comparison suggests cyclic triaxial data may be conservative, and the Magnitude Scaling Factor used in empirical procedures may be unconservative for highly compressible soils during near source moderate to low magnitude events. Comparison to empirical triggering curves suggests the empirical method generally estimates the cyclic strength of Christchurch sands within a reasonable degree of accuracy as a screening evaluation tool for liquefaction hazard, however for sands with moderate to high fines content it may be significantly unconservative, highlighting the need for high quality sampling and testing on important projects where seismic performance is critical.
This paper presents insights from recent advanced laboratory testing of undisturbed and reconstituted specimens of Christchurch silty-sands. The purpose of the testing was to establish the cyclic strength of silty-sands from sites in the Central Business District (CBD), where liquefaction was observed in 4 September 2010, 22 February 2011, and 13 June 2011. Similar overall strengths were obtained from undisturbed and reconstituted tests prepared at similar densities, albeit with higher variability for the reconstituted specimens. Reconstituted specimens exhibited distinctly different response in terms of lower compressibility during initial loading cycles, and exhibited a more brittle response when large strains were mobilised, particularly for samples with high fines content. Given the lower variability in natural sample response and the possibility of age-related strength to be significant for sites not subjected to earthquakes, high quality undisturbed samples are recommended over the use of reconstituted specimens to establish the cyclic strength of natural sands.
In the period between September 2010 and December 2011, Christchurch was shaken by a series of strong earthquakes including the MW7.1 4 September 2010, Mw 6.2 22 February 2011, MW6.2 13 June 2011 and MW6.0 23 December 2011 earthquakes. These earthquakes produced very strong ground motions throughout the city and surrounding areas that resulted in soil liquefaction and lateral spreading causing substantial damage to buildings, infrastructure and the community. The stopbank network along the Kaiapoi and Avon River suffered extensive damage with repairs projected to take several years to complete. This presented an opportunity to undertake a case-study on a regional scale of the effects of liquefaction on a stopbank system. Ultimately, this information can be used to determine simple performance-based concepts that can be applied in practice to improve the resilience of river protection works. The research presented in this thesis draws from data collected following the 4th September 2010 and 22nd February 2011 earthquakes. The stopbank damage is categorised into seven key deformation modes that were interpreted from aerial photographs, consultant reports, damage photographs and site visits. Each deformation mode provides an assessment of the observed mechanism of failure behind liquefaction-induced stopbank damage and the factors that influence a particular style of deformation. The deformation modes have been used to create a severity classification for the whole stopbank system, being ‘no or low damage’ and ‘major or severe damage’, in order to discriminate the indicators and factors that contribute to ‘major to severe damage’ from the factors that contribute to all levels of damage a number of calculated, land damage, stopbank damage and geomorphological parameters were analysed and compared at 178 locations along the Kaiapoi and Avon River stopbank systems. A critical liquefiable layer was present at every location with relatively consistent geotechnical parameters (cone resistance (qc), soil behaviour type (Ic) and Factor of Safety (FoS)) across the study site. In 95% of the cases the critical layer occurred within two times the Height of the Free Face (HFF,). A statistical analysis of the geotechnical factors relating to the critical layer was undertaken in order to find correlations between specific deformation modes and geotechnical factors. It was found that each individual deformation mode involves a complex interplay of factors that are difficult to represent through correlative analysis. There was, however, sufficient data to derive the key factors that have affected the severity of deformation. It was concluded that stopbank damage is directly related to the presence of liquefaction in the ground materials beneath the stopbanks, but is not critical in determining the type or severity of damage, instead it is merely the triggering mechanism. Once liquefaction is triggered it is the gravity-induced deformation that causes the damage rather than the shaking duration. Lateral spreading and specifically the depositional setting was found to be the key aspect in determining the severity and type of deformation along the stopbank system. The presence or absence of abandoned or old river channels and point bar deposits was found to significantly influence the severity and type of deformation. A review of digital elevation models and old maps along the Kaiapoi River found that all of the ‘major to severe’ damage observed occurred within or directly adjacent to an abandoned river channel. Whilst a review of the geomorphology along the Avon River showed that every location within a point bar deposit suffered some form of damage, due to the depositional environment creating a deposit highly susceptible to liquefaction.