The debt stricken state-owned enterprise Solid energy is in crisis talks with the Treasury and its banks, two years after the Christchurch earthquakes, insurance companies are blamed for delays in the rebuild, and in dateline pacific Papua New Guinea is building up its military to build roads.
A photograph of a crowd gathered around the large-scale puppets created for FESTA's 2013 Canterbury Tales event. The puppets are in the Re:START mall car park on Cashel Street.
Phil Holdstock, a homeowner; Leanne Curtis, relationships manager for the Canterbury Communities' Earthquake Recovery Network, a network of residents association and community group representatives from the earthquake-affected neighbourhoods of Canterbury; and Jeremy Johnson, insurance partner at Wynn Williams in Christchurch.
Transcript of Lavina's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Damage to ceiling systems resulted in a substantial financial loss to building owners in the Canterbury earthquakes. In some buildings, collapse of ceilings could easily have resulted in severe injury to occupants. This paper summarizes the types of ceiling damage observed in the Canterbury earthquakes, and draws useful lessons from the observed performance of different types of ceiling systems. Existing ceiling manufacturing and installing practices/regulations in New Zealand are critically scrutinized to identify deficiencies, and measures are suggested to improve the practice so that the damage to ceilings and the resulting loss are minimized in future earthquakes.
Summary of oral history interview with Adele Kelly about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Transcript of Liza's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
The current seismic design practice for reinforced concrete (RC) walls has been drawn into question following the Canterbury earthquakes. An overview of current research being undertaken at the University of Auckland into the seismic behaviour of RC walls is presented. The main objectives of this research project are to understand the observed performance of several walls in Christchurch, quantify the seismic loads on RC walls, and developed improved design procedures for RC walls that will assist in revisions to NZS 3101. A database summarising of the performance of RC wall buildings in the Christchurch CBD was collated to identify damage modes and case-study buildings. A detailed investigation is underway to verify the seismic performance of lightly reinforced concrete walls and an experimental setup has been developed to subject RC wall specimen to loading that is representative of a multi-storey building. Numerical modelling is being used to understand the observed performance of several case-study RC walls buildings in Christchurch. Of particular interest is the influence that interactions between walls and other structural elements have on the seismic response of buildings and the loads generated on RC walls.
A PDF copy of a press release written by Jolyon White of Anglican Advocacy (formerly the Anglican Life Social Justice Unit) on the topic of social housing in post-quake Christchurch. The press release was written on 5 April 2013.
A video of a protest against the Ministry of Education's proposed school closures and mergers in Christchurch. More than a thousand people marched from the CBS Arena to the Ministry of Education office on Princess Street as part of the protest.
Provincial towns and rural communities around the country say they will be financially ruined under proposals to strengthen buildings following the Christchurch earthquakes. Dale Williams is Mayor of Otorohanga, Dave Cull is Mayor of Dunedin and Lawrence Yule is Mayor of Hastings and president of Local Government NZ.
Ethics in the engineering profession is under scrutiny following the Christchurch earthquakes and Pike River disaster. We hear from Professor John Uff, an international arbitrator specialising in professional negligence. He has led many public inquiries including the Southall Rail Crash in London which killed 7 people and injured 150.
Following devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 in Christchurch, there is an opportunity to use sustainable urban design variables to redevelop the central city in order to address climate change concerns and reduce CO₂ emissions from land transport. Literature from a variety of disciplines establishes that four sustainable urban design variables; increased density, mixed-use development, street layout and city design, and the provision of sustainable public transport, can reduce car dependency and vehicle kilometres travelled within urban populations- widely regarded as indicators of the negative environmental effects of transport. The key question for the research is; to what extent has this opportunity been seized by NZ’s Central Government who are overseeing the central city redevelopment? In order to explore this question the redevelopment plans for the central city of Christchurch are evaluated against an adapted urban design matrix to determine whether a reduction in CO₂ emissions from land transport is likely to be achieved through their implementation. Data obtained through interviews with experts is used to further explore the extent to which sustainable urban design variables can be employed to enhance sustainability and reduce CO₂ emissions. The analysis of this data shows that the four urban design variables will feature in the Central Government’s redevelopment plans although the extent to which they are employed and their likely success in reducing CO₂ emissions will vary. Ultimately, the opportunity to redevelop the central city of Christchurch to reduce CO₂ emissions from land transport will be undermined due to timeframe, co-ordination, and leadership barriers.
Summary of oral history interview with Gina King about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Summary of oral history interview with Christine about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Transcript of Ann's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered outside the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. A tour of the Cathedral was part of FESTA 2013. The tour included a talk by Johnny McFarlane of Beca about project management of transitional architecture.
A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered outside the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered outside the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of Jonny McFarlane of Beca in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. A tour of the Cathedral was part of FESTA 2013. The tour included a talk by McFarlane about project management of transitional architecture.
A photograph of people gathered outside the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.
A photograph of the inside of the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. A tour of the Cathedral was part of FESTA 2013. The tour included a talk by Johnny McFarlane of Beca about project management of transitional architecture.