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Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Christchurch earthquake events have raised questions on the adequacy of performance-based provisions in the current national building code. At present, in the building code the performance objectives are expressed in terms of safety and health criteria that could affect building occupants. In general, under the high intensity Christchurch events, buildings performed well in terms of life-safety (with a few exceptions) and it proved that the design practices adopted for those buildings could meet the performance objectives set by the building code. However, the damage incurred in those buildings resulted in unacceptably high economic loss. It is timely and necessary to revisit the objectives towards building performance in the building code and to include provisions for reducing economic implications in addition to the current requirements. Based on the observed performance of some buildings, a few specific issues in the current design practices that could have contributed to extensive damage have been identified and recommended for further research leading towards improved performance of structures. In particular, efforts towards innovative design/construction solutions with low-damage concepts are encouraged. New Zealand has been one of the leading countries in developing many innovative technologies. However, such technically advanced research findings usually face challenges towards implementation. Some of the reasons include: (i) lack of policy requirements; (iii) absence of demonstrated performance of new innovations to convince stakeholders; and (iv) non-existence of design guidelines. Such barriers significantly affect implementation of low damage construction and possible strategies to overcome those issues are discussed in this paper.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

This thesis describes the strategies for earthquake strengthening vintage clay bricks unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. URM buildings are well known to be vulnerable to damage from earthquake-induced lateral forces that may result in partial or full building collapse. The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes are the most recent destructive natural disaster that resulted in the deaths of 185 people. The earthquake events had drawn people’s attention when URM failure and collapse caused about 39 of the fatality. Despite the poor performance of URM buildings during the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes, a number of successful case study buildings were identified and their details research in-depth. In order to discover the successful seismic retrofitting techniques, two case studies of retrofitted historical buildings located in Christchurch, New Zealand i.e. Orion’s URM substations and an iconic Heritage Hotel (aka Old Government Building) was conducted by investigating and evaluating the earthquake performance of the seismic retrofitting technique applied on the buildings prior to the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes and their performance after the earthquakes sequence. The second part of the research reported in this thesis was directed with the primary aim of developing a cost-effective seismic retrofitting technique with minimal interference to the vintage clay-bricks URM buildings. Two retrofitting techniques, (i) near-surface mounted steel wire rope (NSM-SWR) with further investigation on URM wallettes to get deeper understanding the URM in-plane behaviour, and (ii) FRP anchor are reported in this research thesis.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Scaffolding covering the outer walls of the James Hight Building at the University of Canterbury. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The repair work on the buildings at the University of Canterbury looks similar to the scenes in the CBD".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a sign on a fence in front of a partially-demolished building on Cashel Street. The sign reads, "This building is dangerous and not safe to enter". In the background, an excavator is working to remove the rubble from in front of the building.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A red-stickered building on Canterbury Street in Lyttelton. The building's facade has been propped up with timber, steel and concrete block bracing, and one of its windows has been weather proofed with plywood. Wire fencing has been place around the building as a cordon.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A view down Sumner Road in Lyttelton with the former Lyttelton Public Library building to the left and the former Lyttelton Fire Station building to the right. Masonry has collapsed from both buildings and wire fencing has been placed around their bases as cordons.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A damaged building on the corner of Montreal and Armagh Streets, near Cranmer Square. To the right, a new tilt-slab building is being constructed on the site of a demolished building and the damaged Cranmer Centre can be seen.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A view across Stanmore Road to several badly damaged buildings, including Marcel's Picnic, Chalet Hair Fashion and Stanmore Road Dairy. Masonry and structural components from the buildings have collapsed onto the footpath and the buildings have been cordoned off by a safety fence.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

An aerial photograph of the PricewaterhouseCoopers building. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "PricewaterhouseCoopers building at 119 Armagh Street. Its status is uneconomic to repair, so it will be demolished. Copthorne Central is visible behind it and will be staying".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A close-up photograph of a sign about the Fisher's Building, with the words, "Making our mark. An architect's vision contributes to a transformation of the commercial heart of our city. Whether a building survives or becomes just a memory is part of the continually changing Central City. Fisher's Building".