Following the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes, a renewed focus has been directed across New Zealand to the hazard posed by the country‘s earthquake-vulnerable buildings, namely unreinforced masonry (URM) and reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with potentially nonductile components that have historically performed poorly in large earthquakes. The research reported herein was pursued with the intention of addressing several recommendations made by the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission of Inquiry which were classified into the following general categories: Identification and provisional vulnerability assessment of URM and RC buildings and building components; Testing, assessment, and retrofitting of URM walls loaded out-of-plane, with a particular focus on highly vulnerable URM cavity walls; Testing and assessment of RC frame components, especially those with presumably non-ductile reinforcement detailing; Portfolio management considering risks, regulations, and potential costs for a portfolio that includes several potentially earthquake-vulnerable buildings; and Ongoing investigations and proposed research needs. While the findings from the reported research have implications for seismic assessments of buildings across New Zealand and elsewhere, an emphasis was placed on Auckland given this research program‘s partnership with the Auckland Council, the Auckland region accounting for about a third each of the country‘s population and economic production, and the number and variety of buildings within the Auckland building stock. An additional evaluation of a historic building stock was carried out for select buildings located in Hawke‘s Bay, and additional experimental testing was carried out for select buildings located in Hawke‘s Bay and Christchurch.
A photograph of street art on the side of the Manchester Street parking building, seen from Hereford Street. The artists are Chris Finlayson and Dean Blundell. The art work depicts a tram, a tank, a boat and other unusual vehicles parked in the parking building.
A photograph of street art on the side of the Manchester Street parking building, seen from Hereford Street. The artists are Chris Finlayson and Dean Blundell. The art work depicts a tram, an aeroplane, a helicopter, a boat and other unusual vehicles parked in the parking building.
A photograph of street art on Norwich Quay in Lyttelton. The artist is Fat - HRA. There are building materials in the foreground.
A photograph of street art on Norwich Quay in Lyttelton. The artist is Fat - HRA. There are building materials in the foreground.
A photograph of street art on Norwich Quay in Lyttelton. The artist is Fat - HRA. There are building materials in the foreground.
Seismic retrofitting of unreinforced masonry buildings using posttensioning has been the topic of many recent experimental research projects. However, the performance of such retrofit designs in actual design level earthquakes has previously been poorly documented. In 1984 two stone masonry buildings within The Arts Centre of Christchurch received posttensioned seismic retrofits, which were subsequently subjected to design level seismic loads during the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence. These 26 year old retrofits were part of a global scheme to strengthen and secure the historic building complex and were subject to considerable budgetary constraints. Given the limited resources available at the time of construction and the current degraded state of the steel posttension tendons, the posttensioned retrofits performed well in preventing major damage to the overall structure of the two buildings in the Canterbury earthquakes. When compared to other similar unretrofitted structures within The Arts Centre, it is demonstrated that the posttensioning significantly improved the in-plane and out-of-plane wall strength and the ability to limit residual wall displacements. The history of The Arts Centre buildings and the details of the Canterbury earthquakes is discussed, followed by examination of the performance of the posttension retrofits and the suitability of this technique for future retrofitting of other historic unreinforced masonry buildings. http://www.aees.org.au/downloads/conference-papers/
A photograph of street art on a building in Brighton Mall.
A photograph of street art on a transformer building in Waltham.
A photograph of street art on a building in New Brighton.
A photograph of street art on a building in New Brighton.
A photograph of street art on a building in Brighton Mall.
A photograph of street art on a transformer building in Waltham.
A photograph of street art on a transformer building in Waltham.
A photograph of street art on a transformer building in Waltham.
A photograph of tags on a building and shipping container in Waltham.
A photograph of the interior of the partially-demolished Odeon Theatre. The top of the walls have been demolished and a nearby building on Manchester Street is visible in the background. Elephants have been painted on the wall of this building.
A photograph of the former site of Westende Jewellers and Alva Rados, on the corner of Manchester Street and Worcester Street. The building was badly-damaged in the 4 September earthquake and was demolished soon afterwards. A two-storey building was built on the site and completed in July 2012. The building then had to be removed when the decision was made to widen Manchester Street as part of the draft transport plan for central Christchurch. The photograph was modelled after an image taken by Ian McGregor from Fairfax Media in September 2010.
A photograph of the former site of Westende Jewellers and Alva Rados, on the corner of Manchester Street and Worcester Street. The building was badly-damaged in the 4 September earthquake and was demolished soon afterwards. A two-storey building was built on the site and completed in July 2012. The building then had to be removed when the decision was made to widen Manchester Street as part of the draft transport plan for central Christchurch. The photograph was modelled after an image taken by Ian McGregor from Fairfax Media in September 2010.
A photograph of street art on the side of a building in Brighton Mall.
A photograph of street art on a building between Brighton Mall and Beresford Street.
A photograph of street art on a building between Brighton Mall and Beresford Street.
A photograph of tagging on a building in New Brighton, seen from Hawke Street.
A photograph of a section of a piece of street art on the side of a building between Brighton Mall and Hawke Street. This section of the artwork has been painted around a sign which warns the building is under electronic surveillance.
A photograph of the interior of the partially-demolished Odeon Theatre. The top of the walls have been demolished, and a nearby building on Manchester Street is visible in the background. Elephants have been painted on the closest wall of this building.
A photograph of street art on a wall of the Southcore Limited building on Isabella Place.
A photograph of street art on a wall of the Southcore Limited building on Isabella Place.
A close-up photograph of a mural on the side of a building on Beresford Street.
A photograph of tagging on a fence and building in New Brighton, seen from Hawke Street.
A photograph of a section of a piece of street art on the side of a building between Brighton Mall and Hawke Street. This section of the artwork has been painted around a sign which warns that the building is under electronic surveillance. It also includes the Japanese characters for "mother" and "child".