Weeds are growing through cracks in the pavement outside abandoned properties on Seabreeze Close, Bexley.
During the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes, several reinforced concrete (RC) walls in multi-storey buildings formed a single crack in the plastic hinge region as opposed to distributed cracking. In several cases the crack width that was required to accommodate the inelastic displacement of the building resulted in fracture of the vertical reinforcing steel. This type of failure is characteristic of RC members with low reinforcement contents, where the area of reinforcing steel is insufficient to develop the tension force required to form secondary cracks in the surrounding concrete. The minimum vertical reinforcement in RC walls was increased in NZS 3101:2006 with the equation for the minimum vertical reinforcement in beams also adopted for walls, despite differences in reinforcement arrangement and loading. A series of moment-curvature analyses were conducted for an example RC wall based on the Gallery Apartments building in Christchurch. The analysis results indicated that even when the NZS 3101:2006 minimum vertical reinforcement limit was satisfied for a known concrete strength, the wall was still susceptible to sudden failure unless a significant axial load was applied. Additionally, current equations for minimum reinforcement based on a sectional analysis approach do not adequately address the issues related to crack control and distribution of inelastic deformations in ductile walls.
Large cracks running down the mud brick chimney of Deans Cottage. The chimney has been supported by wooden bracing.
Large cracks running down the mud brick chimney of Deans Cottage. The chimney has been supported by wooden bracing.
A damaged and abandoned house at 10 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the ground.
An abandoned residential property at 18 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the ground and the yard has become overgrown.
An abandoned residential property at 20 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the ground and the yard has become overgrown.
An abandoned residential property at 1 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. The front lawn is overgrown and weeds are growing through the cracks in the driveway.
An abandoned residential property at 2 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds have grown through the cracks in the driveway and around the front of the house.
An abandoned residential property at 16 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the ground and a window has been vandalised with graffiti.
A damaged substation on Sumner Road in Lyttelton. The crack runs through the brickwork on the upper right-hand side and some of the bricks are missing.
An abandoned residential property at 37 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the ground and the yard has become overgrown. The garage door has been vandalised with graffiti.
An abandoned residential property at 35 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the ground and the yard has become overgrown. The number 35 has been spray-painted onto the entrance of the house.
An abandoned residential property at 31 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. The number 31 has been spray-painted onto the entrance of the house. The door appears to be open. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the driveway.
An abandoned residential property at 22 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the ground and the yard has become overgrown. A security fence has been placed on the left-hand side of the property.
An abandoned residential property at 22 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. Weeds are growing through the cracks in the ground and the yard has become overgrown. A sticker has been placed on the power meter to indicate that the power has been turned off.
Following the 2010/2011 Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes, a detailed door-to-door survey was conducted in the Christchurch region to establish the earthquake performance of lightweight timber-framed residential dwellings with a masonry veneer external cladding system. The post-earthquake survey involved documenting the condition of dwellings in areas that had experienced different levels of earthquake shaking, allowing comparison between the performance of different veneer systems and different shaking intensities. In total, just fewer than 1,100 residential dwellings were inspected throughout the wider Christchurch area. The survey included parameters such as level of veneer damage, type of veneer damage, observed crack widths, and level of repair required. It is concluded that based on observed earthquake performance at the shaking intensities matching or exceeding ultimate limit state loading, the post-1996 veneer fixing details performed satisfactorily and continued use of the detail is recommended without further modification. AM - Accepted Manuscript