The Royal Commission into the Canterbury earthquakes has been told illegal building techniques are being used in the Christchurch rebuild because the engineering profession is in crisis.
A structural engineer has broken down at the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission after admitting he contributed to a woman's death in the February the twenty second earthquake.
An overseas expert has defended the structural engineer who declared the Canterbury Television building sound after the September 2010 earthquake.
A structural engineer has told the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission that illegal building techniques are being used in the Christchurch rebuild because the engineering profession is in crisis.
A structural engineer has denied he rushed the inspection of earthquake repairs to a Christchurch bar so it could re-open in time for New Years Eve.
A video about a fire which broke out in an earthquake-damaged building on High Street. The video includes an interview with Steve Kennedy, Canterbury Fire Service Assistant Area Manager, Brigid Fayle, who worked in the building prior to the 22 February 2011 earthquake, and Anne MacKenzie, a structural engineer who worked on strengthening the building.
A video about the Christchurch City Council housing complex on Conference Street in the Christchurch central city. The housing complex was unoccupied after the 22 February 2011 earthquake despite the housing shortage. Christchurch City Council said that the vacant units could not be lived in because of structural damage or damage to services. However, the building has been checked by structural engineers and many of the rooms have been deemed safe to occupy.
Test results are presented for wall-diaphragm plate anchor connections that were axially loaded to rupture. These connection samples were extracted post-earthquake by sorting through the demolition debris from unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. Unfortunately the number of samples available for testing was small due to the difficulties associated with sample collection in an environment of continuing aftershocks and extensive demolition activity, when personal safety combined with commercial activity involving large demolition machinery were imperatives that inhibited more extensive sample collection for research purposes. Nevertheless, the presented data is expected to be of assistance to structural engineers undertaking seismic assessment of URM buildings that have existing wall-diaphragm anchor plate connections installed, where it may be necessary to estimate the capacity of the existing connection as an important parameter linked with determining the current seismic capacity of the building and therefore influencing the decision regarding whether supplementary connections should be installed.
A review of the week's main news: sex offender slips through net to teach in a number of New Zealand schools, government says it's not to blame for spreading industrial unrest, Turangi teen sentenced to 10 years jail for raping five year old, Rena captain and navigational officer plead guilty to altering ship's documents, government targets sole parents, unemployed teens, widows and women alone in welfare reforms, Otago Rugby Union fights to stave off liquidation, government promising clampdown on mistreatment and underpayment of foreign crews working on fishing boats chartered to New Zealand companies, structural engineer breaks down at Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission and Bret McKenzie earns an Oscar for a Muppet of a song.