Rescue workers search the still-burning CTV building.
An emergency staff member outside the Registry Building.
A photograph of a damaged building in Lyttelton.
Rubble from the partially collapsed Piko Wholefoods building.
A photograph of a damaged building in Lyttelton.
A photograph of a building on Manchester Street.
USAR codes on a building on Kilmore Street.
A photograph of a damaged building in Lyttelton.
A photograph of a demolished building in Lyttelton.
A photograph of damaged buildings on London Street.
Cracking in the brickwork of a residential building.
A photograph of damaged buildings on Manchester Street.
Corrugated iron cladding on the Cranmer Courts building.
Robert Jones Building - corner of Colombo & Armagh Street
Currently there is a worldwide renaissance in timber building design. At the University of Canterbury, new structural systems for commercial multistorey timber buildings have been under development since 2005. These systems incorporate large timber sections connected by high strength post-tensioning tendons, and timber-concrete composite floor systems, and aim to compete with existing structural systems in terms of cost, constructability, operational and seismic performance. The development of post-tensioned timber systems has created a need for improved lateral force design approaches for timber buildings. Current code provisions for seismic design are based on the strength of the structure, and do not adequately account for its deformation. Because timber buildings are often governed by deflection, rather than strength, this can lead to the exceedence of design displacement limitations imposed by New Zealand codes. Therefore, accurate modeling approaches which define both the strength and deformation of post-tensioned timber buildings are required. Furthermore, experimental testing is required to verify the accuracy of these models. This thesis focuses on the development and experimental verification of modeling approaches for the lateral force design of post-tensioned timber frame and wall buildings. The experimentation consisted of uni-direcitonal and bi-directional quasi-static earthquake simulation on a two-thirds scale, two-storey post-tensioned timber frame and wall building with timber-concrete composite floors. The building was subjected to lateral drifts of up to 3% and demonstrated excellent seismic performance, exhibiting little damage. The building was instrumented and analyzed, providing data for the calibration of analytical and numerical models. Analytical and numerical models were developed for frame, wall and floor systems that account for significant deformation components. The models predicted the strength of the structural systems for a given design performance level. The static responses predicted by the models were compared with both experimental data and finite element models to evaluate their accuracy. The frame, wall and floor models were then incorporated into an existing lateral force design procedure known as displacement-based design and used to design several frame and wall structural systems. Predictions of key engineering demand parameters, such as displacement, drift, interstorey shear, interstorey moment and floor accelerations, were compared with the results of dynamic time-history analysis. It was concluded that the numerical and analytical models, presented in this thesis, are a sound basis for determining the lateral response of post-tensioned timber buildings. However, future research is required to further verify and improve these prediction models.
A photograph of the back page of a Christchurch City Council form. The form allowed contractors to apply for the authorisation to enter the Christchurch Red Zone after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Information on the back reads, "What does this authorisation mean for me? I am wearing appropriate personal protection clothing and equipment. At all times DO NOT enter any red placarded building. You may enter a yellow placarded building for a period of time (no longer than 30 minutes) and follow the instruction of the escorts. A green placarded building may be accessed for longer periods. Please note: do not enter any buildings which are not for the purpose of your authorisation".
Penguins Quakey and Shakey inside the NZI3 building.
Members of the recovery team outside the Registry Building.
Staff in the engineering building begin to clean up.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damaged building, Oxford Street, Lyttelton".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damaged building, Norwich Quay, Lyttelton".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Strategy Design building partially demolished".
Anna Crighton, Chairperson, Canterbury Earthquake Heritage Building Trust Board.
Damaged and partially-demolished brick buildings on Bedford Row.
A photograph of earthquake-damaged buildings in Cashel Mall.
A photograph of a damaged building on Oxford Terrace.
A photograph of badly-damaged buildings along Colombo Street.
A photograph of a damaged building on Tuam Street.
A photograph of a damaged building on Gloucester Street.
A photograph of the ACC building on Oxford Terrace.