Thousands of new jobs will be created this year as the rebuilding of Canterbury begins.
As a result of the Christchurch Earthquake that occurred on 22nd February 2011 and the resultant loss of life and widespread damage, a Royal Commission of Enquiry was convened in April 2011. The Royal Commission recommended a number of significant changes to the regulation of earthquake prone building in New Zealand. Earthquake prone buildings are buildings that are deemed to be of insufficient strength to perform adequately in a moderate earthquake. In response to the Royal Commission recommendations the New Zealand Government carried out a consultative process before announcing proposed changes to the building regulations in August 2013. One of the most significant changes is the imposition of mandatory strengthening requirements for earthquake prone buildings on a national basis. This will have a significant impact on the urban fabric of most New Zealand towns and cities. The type of traditional cost benefit study carried out to date fails to measure these impacts and this paper proposes an alternative methodology based on the analysis of land use data and rating valuations. This methodology was developed and applied to a small provincial town in the form of a case study. The results of this case study and the methodology used are discussed in this paper.
This paper describes pounding damage sustained by buildings and bridges in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Approximately 6% of buildings in Christchurch CBD were observed to have suffered some form of serious pounding damage. Almost all of this pounding damage occurred in masonry buildings, further highlighting their vulnerability to this phenomenon. Modern buildings were found to be vulnerable to pounding damage where overly stiff and strong ‘flashing’ components were installed in existing building separations. Soil variability is identified as a key aspect that amplifies the relative movement of buildings, and hence increases the likelihood of pounding damage. Pounding damage in bridges was found to be relatively minor and infrequent in the Christchurch earthquake.
Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 16 December. This week .... This week...another housing boom as property prices increase, the current state of Maori journalism, two stories from Canterbury's earthquake - a victim's recovery and a musician's return, a look back at the life of an albatross genius, the DNA of food, performing Shakespeare in te reo Maori and 200 years of wedding fashion on exhibition at Te Papa.
A video of an address by Alex Cutler, CEO of the New Zealand Green Building Council, at the 2014 Seismics and the City forum. This talk was part of the Building Communities section and explored the extent to which the new city core will be a 'government-flavoured doughnut', the key issues with this concept, and the possible solutions.
A demon mask hangs from a brick chimney in New Brighton. Some of the bricks at the base of the chimney appear to have moved. The photographer comments, "Since the September earthquake brick chimneys have been tumbling down. I do not know if this was put up to ward off shaking of the chimney during earthquakes, but it seems to be working. This chimney has now been taken down at the end of March 2012 and replaced with a simple metal flue".
Workers operate a drilling rig inside a Terra Probe truck, which has been raised on jacks to make it stable. The photographer comments, "Another completely different company testing what is below the surface to determine what type of foundations new houses will need. This is in one the blue/green area of earthquake shaken Christchurch. Strangely this is 3 metres away from where the other testing was done".
A digitally manipulated image of the sun shining through a stand of pine trees in New Brighton. Some of the trees are on a lean. The photographer comments, "Due to the Christchurch earthquakes and the land subsiding in this area the trees in this area will nearly all be cut down. So these may be the last tall trees to bathe in the sunshine for decades to come".
A information board on the fence around the Homestead at Mona Vale. It says 'This hertiage building is managed by the Christchurch City Council on behalf of the city's residents. Until recently it served as a restaurant and function centre. This building was damaged in the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes and ongoing aftershocks. Propping walls and other support is designed to keep the building weather-proof until a decision about its future can be made'.
A photograph captioned, "We get the young fellas to come in and do the upkeep on the government houses that have been sold. They cut down all the long grass and just tidy up all the fire risk sections. This one's easier cos the house is gone. If you keep it tidy it looks tidy from the road. There's people living here, and there's nothing worse than looking over your house and seeing grass this high".
With the recent innovation and development within Christchurch following the earthquakes there have been suggestions of developing an ethnic precinct or 'Chinatown' within the city. This article explores the possibility of this and its potential benefits.
The objective of this project is to collect perishable seismic response data from the baseisolated Christchurch Women's Hospital. The strong and continuing sequence of aftershocks presents a unique opportunity to capture high-fidelity data from a modern base-isolated facility. These measurements will provide quantitative information required to assess the mechanisms at play in this and in many other seismically-isolated structures.
The temporary (10 years?) and cheap ($4-6 million) Anglican Cathedral being built a few hundred meters away from the old stone structure that was the centre of Christchurch. Both buildings (the original and this) have caused a lot of controversy, many wanting the old stone one to be repaired (the church want to demolish it), and this as a waste ...
The line that runs across this picture is the subsidence line - everything this side of the line has sunk by about 50 cm.
The Earthquake Recovery Minister says this is a final warning for the Christchurch City Council.
This weekend the Kiwi Club of New York is having a big fundraiser to benefit the Christchurch Earthquake appeal.
The Christchurch earthquake looks to have dashed hopes of a pickup in household spending this year.
A series of earthquakes have struck the Christchurch area this morning, the biggest of those being reported as a moderate jolt by GeoNet.
Real estate sign on a building with a missing wall in Manchester Street reads "Watch this Hotspot!
Compare this Jan 2011 shot with one taken earlier.
The front page graphic for The Press. The main headline reads, 'Does this look like the road to recovery?'.
'Is this the Brighter Future?': Rachel Graham looks at how the Government's decisions have impacted the lives of people in Christchurch.
An earthquake aftershock measuring five-point-one on the Richter Scale shook Christchurch this morning, just after six o'clock.
Host of the Radio New Zealand programme This Way Up, currently assisting friends in Christchurch affected by the earthquake.
The Insurance Council is ranking the Canterbury earthquake as the world's third most expensive insured event this year.
The Insurance Council is ranking the Canterbury earthquake as the world's third most expensive insured event this year.
This artwork is a legal graffiti work, part of Project Legit which is run by the Christchurch City Council.
An exhibition of artworks on the cordon fence. This was a project by the Linwood Community Art Centre.
The Provincial Chambers Building with a red sticker on the door. This means the building is unsafe to enter.
This corner building ( Askos)has been demolished and the ones attached soon to ne