Container wall protecting road from rock falls.
Container wall protecting road from rock falls.
Container wall protecting road from rock falls.
Container wall protecting road from rock falls.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage from the February 22nd earthquake in Christchurch. Rock retaining walls collapsed on Dyers Pass Road, Cashmere".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage from the February 22nd earthquake in Christchurch. Rock retaining walls collapsed on Dyers Pass Road, Cashmere".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage from the February 22nd earthquake in Christchurch. Rock retaining walls collapsed on Dyers Pass Road, Cashmere".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage from the February 22nd earthquake in Christchurch. Rock retaining walls collapsed on Dyers Pass Road, Cashmere".
Further damage to the bank following the two quakes on 23/12/11. The sewer line broke here and was repaired (patched) by council staff on Christmas Eve. It is hard to beleve that this rock wall was level with the land here, before any of the quakes.
The NMIT Arts & Media Building is the first in a new generation of multistorey timber structures. It employs an advanced damage avoidance earthquake design that is a world first for a timber building. Aurecon structural engineers are the first to use this revolutionary Pres-Lam technology developed at the University of Canterbury. This technology marks a fundamental change in design philosophy. Conventional seismic design of multi-storey structures typically depends on member ductility and the acceptance of a certain amount of damage to beams, columns and walls. The NMIT seismic system relies on pairs of coupled LVL shear walls that incorporate high strength steel tendons post-tensioned through a central duct. The walls are centrally fixed allowing them to rock during a seismic event. A series of U-shaped steel plates placed between the walls form a coupling mechanism, and act as dissipators to absorb seismic energy. The design allows the primary structure to remain essentially undamaged while readily replaceable connections act as plastic fuses. In this era where sustainability is becoming a key focus, the extensive use of timber and engineered-wood products such as LVL make use of a natural resource all grown and manufactured within a 100km radius of Nelson. This project demonstrates that there are now cost effective, sustainable and innovative solutions for multi-story timber buildings with potential applications for building owners in seismic areas around the world.