An earthquake engineer says designing buildings to resist earthquakes is as much an art as it is a science and you can never make a structure completely quake-proof.
For the first time the man whose firm designed the CTV building has apologised to the families of the 115 people killed when it collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake.
Built in June 1917, the popular 'Sign of the Kiwi' heritage building in Christchurch's Port Hills has re-opened today after being closed for six years due to earthquake damage.
20160419_7732_7D2-400 The City is in Rebuild phase (110/366) A totally different view to a few years ago. Most of the tall buildings have gone and construction is underway on a lot of new buildings, View from across the Estuary in Redcliffs. A couple of days ago the government agency controlling the post-earthquake work (CERA - Canterbury Ea...
A sign on a cordon fence on St Asaph Street reads "Stop. You must be inducted before entry." The photographer comments, "Safety comes first when it comes to demolition in the earthquake red zone in Christchurch, New Zealand".
Text across the top of the cartoon reads 'Greener pastures for red zone residents?... A new subdivision named 'Quakehaven' has streets named 'Wobble Way', 'Poopong Parade', 'Turd Tce.', 'Liquefaction Lane' etc. One of a couple visiting the new area says 'I've got a bad feeling about this new subdivision!' Context - Housing after the Christchurch earthquakes. After the first Land Report was delivered on 23rd June people whose houses were in the Red Zone had their properties bought up by the government and now have to move to new subdivisions. The suggestion in the cartoon is that the subdivisions may not be on safe ground. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
As part of the ‘Project Masonry’ Recovery Project funded by the New Zealand Natural Hazards Research Platform, commencing in March 2011, an international team of researchers was deployed to document and interpret the observed earthquake damage to masonry buildings and to churches as a result of the 22nd February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The study focused on investigating commonly encountered failure patterns and collapse mechanisms. A brief summary of activities undertaken is presented, detailing the observations that were made on the performance of and the deficiencies that contributed to the damage to approximately 650 inspected unreinforced clay brick masonry (URM) buildings, to 90 unreinforced stone masonry buildings, to 342 reinforced concrete masonry (RCM) buildings, to 112 churches in the Canterbury region, and to just under 1100 residential dwellings having external masonry veneer cladding. Also, details are provided of retrofit techniques that were implemented within relevant Christchurch URM buildings prior to the 22nd February earthquake. In addition to presenting a summary of Project Masonry, the broader research activity at the University of Auckland pertaining to the seismic assessment and improvement of unreinforced masonry buildings is outlined. The purpose of this outline is to provide an overview and bibliography of published literature and to communicate on-going research activity that has not yet been reported in a complete form. http://sesoc.org.nz/conference/programme.pdf
Page 5 of Section O of the Christchurch Press, published on Wednesday 23 February 2011.
A video of an interview with John Haynes, about his experiences during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Haynes was in the Forsyth Barr building when the earthquake struck. Using his skills as trained mountain guide, Haynes belayed fourteen people down three and a half floors to safety.
A video of an interview with stonemason Mark Whyte, about the demolition of the Holy Trinity Church in Avonside. Whyte discusses how the building should have been deconstructed slowly in order to salvage unique heritage material such as stained-glass windows and hand-painted ceilings.
A video of an interview with Roger Sutton, Chief Executive of CERA, about his vision for Christchurch. Sutton talks about CERA's Christchurch central city blueprint, the need to show off the heritage buildings in Christchurch, how to link the central city to the suburbs, and how to make compromises.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Prime Minister John Key, centre, visited Christchurch after its 7.1 magnitude earthquake at 04:35 Saturday morning. Mayor Bob Parker, facing at left, took him on a tour of the city which was punctuated by a fire breaking out in a building on Worcester Street".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Prime Minister John Key, centre, visited Christchurch after its 7.1 magnitude earthquake at 04:35 Saturday morning. Mayor Bob Parker, took him on a tour of the city which was punctuated by a fire breaking out in a building on Worcester Street".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Prime Minister John Key visited Christchurch after its 7.1 magnitude earthquake at 0435 Saturday morning". Mayor Bob Parker, at left, took him on a tour of the city which was punctuated by a fire breaking out in a building on Worcester Street".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "The new Christchurch Council building has suffered only cosmetic damage in the September 4th earthquake. Executive staff members whose offices are on the 5th and 6th floors now have temporary offices in the mezzanine level in the foyer".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Aftermath of the earthquake in Christchurch where the cleanup has begun. Teams of building inspectors gathered at the Linwood Service Centre before heading into the eastern suburbs en masse. Movement around Dallington Terrace was varied. The Medway Street footbridge from River Road to Avonside Drive".
A video of a press conference with Bishop Victoria Matthews in the Botanic Gardens about the plans for the earthquake-damaged ChristChurch Cathedral. Matthews announces that the cathedral will be deconstructed, allowing the safe retrieval of taonga and heritage items within the building.
The families of some of those killed by falling rubble in February's Christchurch earthquake are desperate to know why buildings that had been deemed safe collapsed.
An engineer who worked for the company that designed the CTV building, has criticised the attitude of his former boss at the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission.
Why is the Royal Commission into Building Collapses in the Christchurch Earthquake not apportioning blame? Christchurch lawyer Grant Cameron represented the victims of the Cave Creek Tragedy.
The cartoon shows a large church and two other buildings swaying around on spiral earthquake strengthening seismic restraints. As they sway they ring 'doing, doing!' Refers to the intention to strengthen buildings after the Christchurch earthquake of 4th September and its numerous after shocks. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows a group of snails working on the rebuild of Christchurch. Refers to the slow pace of recovery after February 2011 earthquake in Canterbury. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
The lawyer for the man whose company designed the CTV building says it was the strength and number of Canterbury earthquakes that caused its collaspe, and not any design faults.
A woman of a relative who died in the CTV building in the February earthquake says more needs to be done to identify unknown faultlines before rebuilding work can start in Christchurch.
The Anglican Church has been asked why it failed to carry out a detailed inspection of a building which partially collapsed, killing a Canadian tourist in Christchurch during the February earthquake.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has heard evidence that a heritage order on a row of dangerous buildings may have contributed to the deaths of a dozen people in the February quake.
Panellists Neil Miller and Zoe George discuss a breakthrough in multi-storey buildings for earthquakes with Ben Moerman, a PHD student from the University of Canterbury studying Civil Engineering.
People caught up in February's earthquake in Christchurch want to know why a Royal Commission of inquiry isn't going to apportion any blame for building collapses.
Survivors of February's devastating earthquake in Christchurch are astounded the Royal Commission won't investigate whether anyone should be held liable for the collapse of so many central city buildings.
Scientists in Europe have developed a technology which could be used to find survivors buried in rubble from collapsed buildings in events like the Christchurch and Japanese earthquakes.