Search

found 257 results

Images for repairs; more images...

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Scaffolding that has been constructed on the Manchester Street face of the Octagon Live Restaurant (formerly Trinity Church), which is being repaired. Masonry has fallen from one of the building's gables, and the resultant gap has been weather proofed with plywood and a tarpaulin. The site has been enclosed in a safety fence that cuts off one lane of the road.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

The University of Canterbury's E-Learning team's temporary office in the James Hight building. The photographer comments, "First looks at our new temporary (maybe) office space. Our group will stay here until April or May 2011, then will move to another floor in the Central Library. Foyer lifts etc. Female toilets are off the foyer to the left. These lifts start at Level 2 of the Library, and are heavily used by students. (Once the building is repaired after the earthquake; several floors are still in a mess)".

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Reinforced concrete buildings that satisfied modern seismic design criteria generally behaved as expected during the recent Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes in New Zealand, forming plastic hinges in intended locations. While this meant that life-safety performance objectives were met, widespread demolition and heavy economic losses took place in the aftermath of the earthquakes.The Christchurch central business district was particularly hard hit, with over 60% of the multistorey reinforced concrete buildings being demolished. A lack of knowledge on the post-earthquake residual capacity of reinforced concrete buildings was a contributing factor to the mass demolition.Many aspects related to the assessment of earthquake-damaged reinforced concrete buildings require further research. This thesis focusses on improving the state of knowledge on the post earthquakeresidual capacity and reparability of moderately damaged plastic hinges, with an emphasis on plastic hinges typical of modern moment frame structures. The repair method focussed on is epoxy injection of cracks and patching of spalled concrete. A targeted test program on seventeen nominally identical large-scale ductile reinforced concrete beams, three of which were repaired by epoxy injection following initial damaging loadings, was conducted to support these objectives. Test variables included the loading protocol, the loading rate, and the level of restraint to axial elongation.The information that can be gleaned from post-earthquake damage surveys is investigated. It is shown that residual crack widths are dependent on residual deformations, and are not necessarily indicative of the maximum rotation demands or the plastic hinge residual capacity. The implications of various other types of damage typical of beam and column plastic hinges are also discussed.Experimental data are used to demonstrate that the strength and deformation capacity of plastic hinges with modern seismic detailing are often unreduced as a result of moderate earthquake induced damage, albeit with certain exceptions. Special attention is given to the effects of prior yielding of the longitudinal reinforcement, accounting for the low-cycle fatigue and strain ageing phenomena. A material-level testing program on the low-cycle fatigue behaviour of grade 300E reinforcing steel was conducted to supplement the data available in the literature.A reduction in stiffness, relative to the initial secant stiffness to yield, occurs due to moderate plastic hinging damage. This reduction in stiffness is shown to be correlated with the ductility demand,and a proposed model gives a conservative lower-bound estimate of the residual stiffness following an arbitrary earthquake-type loading. Repair by epoxy injection is shown to be effective in restoring the majority of stiffness to plastic hinges in beams. Epoxy injection is also shown to have implications for the residual strength and elongation characteristics of repaired plastic hinges.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

The earthquake re-pair work has started on the Knox Church on Bealey Avenue, August 14, 2013 Christchurch New Zealand. While building after building is torn down in Christchurch, plans are in place to ensure as much of a 131-year-old church is retained as possible. Knox Church on Bealey Avenue suffered major damage in the February 22 earthquak...

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

he 2016 Building (Earthquake Prone Building) Amendment Act aims to improve the system for managing earthquake-prone buildings. The proposed changes to the Act were precipitated by the Canterbury earthquakes, and the need to improve the seismic safety of New Zealand’s building stock. However, the Act has significant ramifications for territorial authorities, organisations and individuals in small New Zealand towns, since assessing and repairing heritage buildings poses a major cost to districts with low populations and poor rental returns on commercial buildings.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Unreinforced masonry churches in New Zealand, similarly to everywhere else in the word have proven to be highly vulnerable to earthquakes, because of their particular construction features. The Canterbury (New Zealand) earthquake sequence, 2010-2011 caused an invaluable loss of local architectural heritage and of churches, as regrettably, some of them were demolished instead of being repaired. It is critical for New Zealand to advance the data collection, research and understanding pertaining to the seismic performance and protection of church buildings, with the aim to:

Articles, UC QuakeStudies

A copy of a letter from Hugo Kristinsson which was sent to Roger Sutton on 19 September 2013. The letter was sent on behalf of Empowered Christchurch. In the letter, Kristinsson expresses his concern about changes to the Building Act which he states, 'waive liability for the Building Consent Authority when repairs are carried out on homes with land damage'. He also discusses the CERA community forums, which he feel are not fufilling their purpose of supporting and informing the Canterbury community. Lastly, Kristinsson lodges an Official Information Act request, asking for all forum notices and minutes to be released to the public and for access to land information to be provided.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

We measure the longer-term effect of a major earthquake on the local economy, using night-time light intensity measured from space, and investigate whether insurance claim payments for damaged residential property affected the local recovery process. We focus on the destructive Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) 2010 -2011 as our case study. Uniquely for this event, more than 95% of residential housing units were covered by insurance, but insurance payments were staggered over 5 years, enabling us to identify their local impact. We find that night-time luminosity can capture the process of recovery and describe the recovery’s determinants. We also find that insurance payments contributed significantly to the process of economic recovery after the earthquake, but delayed payments were less affective and cash settlement of claims were more effective than insurance-managed repairs in contributing to local recovery.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

essential systems upon which the well-being and functioning of societies depend. They deliver a service or a good to the population using a network, a combination of spatially-distributed links and nodes. As they are interconnected, network elements’ functionality is also interdependent. In case of a failure of one component, many others could be momentarily brought out-of-service. Further problems arise for buried infrastructure when it comes to buried infrastructure in earthquake and liquefaction-prone areas for the following reasons: • Technically more demanding inspections than those required for surface horizontal infrastructure • Infrastructure subject to both permanent ground displacement and transient ground deformation • Increase in network maintenance costs (i.e. deterioration due to ageing material and seismic hazard) These challenges suggest careful studies on network resilience will yield significant benefits. For these reasons, the potable water network of Christchurch city (Figure 1) has been selected for its well-characterized topology and its extensive repair dataset.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A poster created by Empowered Christchurch to advertise their submission to the CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan on social media.The poster reads, "Submission. CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan. 5. In your opinion, is there a better way to report on these recovery issues? We believe that, as regards residential recovery, monitoring should extend to code compliance certificates. According to figures published in 2014, only factions of repairs/rebuilds are completed with the issue of a code compliance certificate. To conclude the work to the required standard, someone must pay for the code compliance. Leaving things as they are could have serious negative consequences for the recovery and for the city as a whole. We suggest an investigation of number of outstanding code compliance certificates and that responsible parties are made to address this outstanding work. We need a city that is driven by the people that live in it, and enabled by a bureaucracy that accepts and mitigates risks, rather than transferring them to the most vulnerable residents."

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of a presentation by Ian Campbell, Executive General Manager of the Stronger Christchurch Rebuild Team (SCIRT), during the third plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. The presentation is titled, "Putting People at the Heart of the Rebuild".The abstract for this presentation reads: On the face of it, the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) is an organisation created to engineer and carry out approximately $2B of repairs to physical infrastructure over a 5-year period. Our workforce consists primarily of engineers and constructors who came from far and wide after the earthquakes to 'help fix Christchurch'. But it was not the technical challenges that drew them all here. It was the desire and ambition expressed in the SCIRT 'what we are here for' statement: 'to create resilient infrastructure that gives people security and confidence in the future of Christchurch'. For the team at SCIRT, people are at the heart of our rebuild programme. This is recognised in the intentional approach SCIRT takes to all aspects of its work. The presentation will touch upon how SCIRT communicated with communities affected by our work and how we planned and coordinated the programme to minimise the impacts, while maximising the value for both the affected communities and the taxpayers of New Zealand and rate payers of Christchurch funding it. The presentation will outline SCIRT's very intentional approach to supporting, developing, connecting, and enabling our people to perform, individually, and collectively, in the service of providing the best outcome for the people of Christchurch and New Zealand.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Seismic isolation is an effective technology for significantly reducing damage to buildings and building contents. However, its application to light-frame wood buildings has so far been unable to overcome cost and technical barriers such as susceptibility to movement during high-wind loading. The precursor to research in the field of isolation of residential buildings was the 1994 Northridge Earthquake (6.7 MW) in the United States and the 1995 Kobe Earthquake (6.9 MW) in Japan. While only a small number of lives were lost in residential buildings in these events, the economic impact was significant with over half of earthquake recovery costs given to repair and reconstruction of residential building damage. A value case has been explored to highlight the benefits of seismically isolated residential buildings compared to a standard fixed-base dwellings for the Wellington region. Loss data generated by insurance claim information from the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake has been used by researchers to determine vulnerability functions for the current light-frame wood building stock. By further considering the loss attributed to drift and acceleration sensitive components, and a simplified single degree of freedom (SDOF) building model, a method for determining vulnerability functions for seismic isolated buildings was developed. Vulnerability functions were then applied directly in a loss assessment using the GNS developed software, RiskScape. Vulnerability was shown to dramatically reduce for isolated buildings compared to an equivalent fixed-base building and as a result, the monetary savings in a given earthquake scenario were significant. This work is expected to drive further interest for development of solutions for the seismic isolation of residential dwellings, of which one option is further considered and presented herein.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Nowadays the telecommunication systems’ performance has a substantial impact on our lifestyle. Their operationality becomes even more substantial in a post-disaster scenario when these services are used in civil protection and emergency plans, as well as for the restoration of all the other critical infrastructure. Despite the relevance of loss of functionality of telecommunication networks on seismic resilience, studies on their performance assessment are few in the literature. The telecommunication system is a distributed network made up of several components (i.e. ducts, utility holes, cabinets, major and local exchanges). Given that these networks cover a large geographical area, they can be easily subjected to the effects of a seismic event, either the ground shaking itself, or co-seismic events such as liquefaction and landslides. In this paper, an analysis of the data collected after the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) and the 2016 Kaikoura Earthquake in New Zealand is conducted. Analysing these data, information gaps are critically identified regarding physical and functional failures of the telecommunication components, the timeline of repair/reconstruction activities and service recovery, geotechnical tests and land planning maps. Indeed, if these missing data were presented, they could aid the assessment of the seismic resilience. Thus, practical improvements in the post-disaster collection from both a network and organisational viewpoints are proposed through consultation of national and international researchers and highly experienced asset managers from Chorus. Finally, an outline of future studies which could guide towards a more resilient seismic performance of the telecommunication network is presented.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of a presentation by Dr Duncan Webb, Partner at Lane Neave, during the third plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. The presentation is titled, "Loss of Trust and other Earthquake Damage".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: It was predictable that the earthquakes which hit the Canterbury region in 2010 and 2011 caused trauma. However, it was assumed that recovery would be significantly assisted by governmental agencies and private insurers. The expectation was that these organisations would relieve the financial pressures and associated anxiety caused by damage to property. Some initiatives did exactly that. However, there are many instances where difficulties with insurance and related issues have exacerbated the adverse effects of the earthquakes on people's wellness. In some cases, stresses around property issues have become and independent source of extreme anxiety and have had significant impacts on the quality of people's lives. Underlying this problem is a breakdown in trust between citizen and state, and insurer and insured. This has led to a pervading concern that entitlements are being denied. While such concerns are sometimes well founded, an approach which is premised on mistrust is frequently highly conflicted, costly, and often leads to worse outcomes. Professor Webb will discuss the nature and causes of these difficulties including: the complexity of insurance and repair issues, the organisational ethos of the relevant agencies, the hopes of homeowners and the practical gap which commonly arises between homeowner expectation and agency response. Observations will be offered on how the adverse effects of these issues can be overcome in dealing with claimants, and how such matters can be managed in a way which promotes the wellness of individuals.

Research Papers, Lincoln University

Disasters are often followed by a large-scale stimulus supporting the economy through the built environment, which can last years. During this time, official economic indicators tend to suggest the economy is doing well, but as activity winds down, the sentiment can quickly change. In response to the damaging 2011 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, the regional economy outpaced national economic growth rates for several years during the rebuild. The repair work on the built environment created years of elevated building activity. However, after the peak of the rebuilding activity, as economic and employment growth retracts below national growth, we are left with the question of how the underlying economy performs during large scale stimulus activity in the built environment. This paper assesses the performance of the underlying economy by quantifying the usual, demand-driven level of building activity at this time. Applying an Input–Output approach and excluding the economic benefit gained from the investment stimulus reveals the performance of the underlying economy. The results reveal a strong growing underlying economy, and while convergence was expected as the stimulus slowed down, the results found that growth had already crossed over for some time. The results reveal that the investment stimulus provides an initial 1.5% to 2% growth buffer from the underlying economy before the growth rates cross over. This supports short-term economic recovery and enables the underlying economy to transition away from a significant rebuild stimulus. Once the growth crosses over, five years after the disaster, economic growth in the underlying economy remains buoyant even if official regional economic data suggest otherwise.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBFs) are a widely used seismic resisting structural steel system. Since their inception in the late 1970s, they have been a viable option with an available stiffness that is between simple braced systems and moment resisting systems. A similar concept, the linked column frame (LCF), uses shear links between two closely spaced columns. In both cases, the key component is the active link or the shear link, and this component is the objective of this study. The performance of high rise EBF buildings in the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes was beyond that which was expected, especially considering the very high accelerations recorded. As the concrete high-rises were torn down, two EBF buildings remained standing and only required some structural repair. These events prompted a renewed interest in bolted shear links, as well as their performance. While some research into replaceable shear links had already been done (Mansour, 2011), the objectives of this study were to improve on the shear link itself, with the consideration that links built in the future are likely to be bolted. The main components of this study were to: 1. Reduce or eliminate the requirements for intermediate web stiffeners, as they were suspected of being detrimental to performance. Furthermore, any reduction in stiffening requirements is a direct fabrication cost saving. Links with low web aspect ratios were found to achieve exceptional ductilities when no stiffeners were included, prompting new design equations. 2. Ensure that the stresses in the ends of links are adequately transferred into the endplates without causing fractures. Although most of the experimental links had web doubler plates included, four had varied lengths of such doubler plates from 0.0 in. to 8.0 in. The link without any doubler plates performed to a similar level to its peers, and thus it is likely that links with quality end details may not need web doubler plates at all. 3. Evaluate the performance of a link with double sided stiffeners without the use of web welds, as opposed to conventional single sided, welded stiffeners. This link performed well, and web-weld-less double sided stiffeners may be an economical alternative to conventional stiffeners for deeper sections of links. 4. Evaluate the performance of a link with thin endplates that are made efficient with the use of gusset plates. This link performed to an acceptable level and provides evidence for a cost effective alternative to thick endplates, especially considering the high overstrength end moments in links, typically requiring 16-bolt connections. 5. Examine the potential use of an alternative EBF arrangement where the collector beam is over sized, and the link section is formed by cutting out parts of the beam's web. After running a series of finite element models each with a unique variation, a number of approximate design rules were derived such that future research could develop this idea further experimentally. 6. Ensure that during testing, the secondary elements (members that are not the shear link), do not yield and are not close to yielding. None of the instrumented elements experienced any unexpected yielding, however the concerns for high stresses in the collector beam panel zone during design were warranted. The use of an existing New Zealand design equation is recommended as an extra check for design codes worldwide. The above objectives were mainly conducted experimentally, except: the data set for item 1 was greatly expanded through the use of a calibrated numerical model which was then used in an extensive parametric study; item 5 was purely finite element based; and, a small parametric study was included for item 3 in an attempt to expand on the trends found there.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

On the 22nd of February, 2011 the city of Christchurch, New Zealand was crippled by a colossal earthquake. 185 people were killed, thousands injured and what remained was a city left in destruction and ruin. Thousands of Christchurch properties and buildings were left damaged beyond repair and the rich historical architecture of the Canterbury region had suffered irreparably.  This research will conduct an investigation into whether the use of mixed reality can aid in liberating Christchurch’s rich architectural heritage when applied to the context of destructed buildings within Christchurch.  The aim of this thesis is to formulate a narrative around the embodiment of mixed reality when subjected to the fragmentary historical architecture of Christchurch. Mixed reality will aspire to act as the defining ligature that holds the past, present and future of Christchurch’s architectural heritage intact as if it is all part of the same continuum.  This thesis will focus on the design of a memorial museum within a heavily damaged historical trust registered building due to the Christchurch earthquake. It is important and relevant to conceive the idea of such a design as history is what makes everything we know. The memories of the past, the being of the now and the projection of the future is the basis and fundamental imperative in honouring the city and people of Christchurch. Using the technologies of Mixed Reality and the realm of its counter parts the memorial museum will be a definitive proposition of desire in providing a psychological and physical understanding towards a better Christchurch, for the people of Christchurch.  This thesis serves to explore the renovation possibilities of the Canterbury provincial council building in its destructed state to produce a memorial museum for the Christchurch earthquake. The design seeks to mummify the building in its raw state that sets and develops the narrative through the spaces. The design intervention is kept at a required minimum and in doing so manifests a concentrated eloquence to the derelict space. The interior architecture unlocks the expression of history and time encompassed within a destructive and industrialised architectural dialogue. History is the inhabitant of the building, and using the physical and virtual worlds it can be set free.  This thesis informs a design for a museum in central Christchurch that celebrates and informs the public on past, present and future heritage aspects of Christchurch city. Using mixed reality technologies the spatial layout inside will be a direct effect of the mixed reality used and the exploration of the physical and digital heritage aspects of Christchurch. The use of technology in today’s world is so prevalent that incorporating it into a memorial museum for Christchurch would not only be interesting and exploratory but also offer a sense of pushing forward and striving beyond for a newer, fresher Christchurch. The memorial museum will showcase a range of different exhibitions that formulate around the devastating Christchurch earthquake. Using mixed reality technologies these exhibitions will dictate the spaces inside dependant on their various applications of mixed reality as a technology for architecture. Research will include; what the people of Canterbury are most dear to in regards to Christchurch’s historical environment; the use of mixed reality to visualise digital heritage, and the combination of the physical and digital to serve as an architectural mediation between what was, what is and what there could be.