Nat's been working on Earthquake relief in Christchurch with the development of the Christchurch Recovery Map and when not doing that, he's been looking at the iPad II, 3D Printers for schools, anti-lasers and other cutting edge tech.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 20 August 2011 entitled, "Diverse Drilling".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 12 September 2010 entitled, "Volunteer Quake-catchers".
A video of an interview with Tony Simpson, Principal of Phillipstown School, about the technology centre at the school. This video is part of a series which looks at the innovative projects which will be lost if the Ministry of Education pushes ahead with its school closure and merger plans.
A map showing the proposed location of the Tait Communications business and technology campus.
Slides from a presentation by Dr Christopher Thomson (UC Digital Humanities Programme) on "CEISMIC and the Role of a Digital Archive".
A photograph of crowds at the LUXCITY event.
There is a now a rich literature on the connections between digital media, networked computing, and the shaping of urban material cultures. Much less has addressed the post-disaster context, like we face in Christchurch, where it is more a case of re-build rather than re-new. In what follows I suggest that Lev Manovich’s well-known distinction between narrative and database as distinct but related cultural forms is a useful framework for thinking about the Christchurch rebuild, and perhaps urbanism more generally.
Following a damaging earthquake, the immediate emergency response is focused on individual collapsed buildings or other "hotspots" rather than the overall state of damage. This lack of attention to the global damage condition of the affected region can lead to the reporting of misinformation and generate confusion, causing difficulties when attempting to determine the level of postdisaster resources required. A pre-planned building damage survey based on the transect method is recommended as a simple tool to generate an estimate of the overall level of building damage in a city or region. A methodology for such a transect survey is suggested, and an example of a similar survey conducted in Christchurch, New Zealand, following the 22 February 2011 earthquake is presented. The transect was found to give suitably accurate estimates of building damage at a time when information was keenly sought by government authorities and the general public. VoR - Version of Record
Slides from the presentation by Professor Mark Billinghurst (HITLabNZ) on "Using Augmented Reality to Commemorate Christchurch".
Our tech/science correspondent Peter Griffin takes a look at technology use after the Christchurch earthquake. Plus version 2 of the iPad.
The cartoon shows a room full of dying electronic gadgets like television, sound systems, a digital phone, a computer etc. and a wood burning stove, a candle, an analogue phone and a barbecue that are old technology and so very useful after the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011. The barbecue says 'How can we retire? These youngsters can't cut it!' Published in The Press Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A PDF copy of pages 50-51 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'LUXCITY'. Photographs: Bridget Anderson and Douglas Horrell
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.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's Blog for 11 January 2014 entitled, "Sumner Sirens".
A photograph of a planning meeting for the Info Gap temporary outdoor display space.
Post-tensioned timber technology was originally developed and researched at the University of Canterbury (UC) in New Zealand in 2005. It can provide a low-damage seismic design solution for multi-storey mass timber buildings. Since mass timber products, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), have high in-plane stiffness, a post-tensioned timber shear wall will deform mainly in a rocking mechanism. The moment capacity of the wall at the base is commonly determined using the elastic form of the Modified Monolithic Beam Analogy (MMBA). In the calculation of the moment capacity at the wall base, it is critical to accurately predict the location of the neutral axis and the timber compressive stress distribution. Three 2/3 scale 8.6m tall post-tensioned CLT walls were experimentally tested under quasi-static cyclic loading – both uni-directional and bi-directional- in this study. These specimens included a single wall, a coupled wall, and a C-shaped core-wall. The main objective was to develop post-tensioned C-shaped timber core-walls for tall timber buildings with enhanced lateral strength and stiffness. To better understand the timber compressive stress distributions at the wall base, particle tracking technology (PTT) technology was applied for the first time to investigate the behaviour of the compression toe. Previous post-tensioned timber testing primarily used the displacement measurements to determine the timber compressive behavior at the wall base or rocking interfaces. However, by using PTT technology, the timber strain measurements in the compression zone can be much more accurate as PTT is able to track the movement of many particles on the timber surface. This paper presents experimental testing results of post-tensioned CLT walls with a focus on capturing timber compressive behavior using PTT. The PTT measurements were able to better capture small base rotations which occurred at the onset of gap opening and capture unexpected phenomena in core-wall tests. The single wall test result herein presented indicates that while the MMBA could predict the moment rotation behavior with reasonable accuracy, the peak strain response was under predicted in the compression toe. Further detailed study is required to better understand the complex strain fields generated reflective of the inherent cross-thickness inhomogeneity and material variability of CLT.
A photograph of a meeting being held in the Central Library Peterborough.
A photograph of volunteers at the Info Gap temporary outdoor display space on the corner of Peterborough and Colombo Streets.
A photograph of volunteers constructing the Info Gap temporary outdoor display space on the corner of Peterborough and Colombo Streets.
A photograph of an installation titled 'Halo', which is part of the LUXCITY event.
Mr Wayne Tobeck, Director of Southrim Group (SRG), sponsored this 2013 MEM Project titled; A Technical and Economic Feasibility Study for the Integration of GSHP Technology in the Christchurch Rebuild. Following the recent Christchurch earthquakes, a significant amount of land has become too unstable to support traditional building foundations. This creates an opportunity to implement new and unique foundation designs previously unconsidered due to high costs compared to traditional methods. One such design proposes that an Injection Micro-Piling technique could be used. This can also be coupled with HVAC technology to create a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) arrangement in both new buildings and as retrofits for building requiring foundation repair. The purpose of this study was to complete a feasibility study on the merits of SRG pursuing this proposed product. A significant market for such a product was found to exist, while the product was also found to be technically and legally feasible. However, the proposed product was found to not be economically feasible with respect to Air Source Heat Pumps due to the significantly higher capital and installation costs required. Further analysis suggests GSHPs may become more economically attractive in operating temperatures lower than -9oC, though the existence of markets with this climate in NZ has not been studied. It is therefore suggested that SRG do not proceed with plans to develop a GSHP coupled foundation solution for the Christchurch rebuild.
A photograph of part of the display structure for the Info Gap temporary outdoor display space. The structure is sitting behind the Gap Filler headquarters in Sydenham.
A photograph of the empty site on the corner of Peterborough and Colombo Streets where the Info Gap temporary outdoor display space will be constructed.
A photograph of people looking at displays in the Info Gap temporary outdoor display space on the corner of Peterborough and Colombo Streets.
A photograph of people looking at displays in the Info Gap temporary outdoor display space on the corner of Peterborough and Colombo Streets.
Describes an extensive experimental program at the University of Canterbury, for the development of new structural systems and connections for multi-storey laminated veneer lumber (LVL) timber buildings in earthquake-prone areas. The proposed innovative ductile timber connections are conceptually similar to recent seismic solutions successfully developed for precast concrete multi- storey buildings. The paper gives an overview of the research program, and the results of quasi-static cyclic tests on frame subassemblies, including exterior beam-column joints and cantilever columns, as well as pseudo-dynamic tests on cantilever columns. The experimental results showed significant dissipation of hysteretic energy, good self-centering capacity and no appreciable damage of the structural elements, confirming the expected enhanced performance of the proposed structural systems.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 1 March 2011 entitled, "Day 8, 6pm - inside the Christchurch cordon".
A PDF copy of pages 28-29 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Infogap'. Photos: Barnaby Bennett
A research report by Ju-Ting (Tania) Lee written in 2013 during her studies towards a Bachelor of Applied Science at Unitec Institute of Technology. The report explores the effects of the Christchurch earthquakes on the behaviour and well-being of cats and dogs, according to their owners.