A paper presented at the New Zealand Concrete Industry Conference 2015 about the design and construction challenges faced when strengthening the Memorial Arch.
A pdf copy of a PowerPoint presentation prepared for the Australia New Zealand Geotechnical Engineering Conference.
Following the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes, a renewed focus has been directed across New Zealand to the hazard posed by the country‘s earthquake-vulnerable buildings, namely unreinforced masonry (URM) and reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with potentially nonductile components that have historically performed poorly in large earthquakes. The research reported herein was pursued with the intention of addressing several recommendations made by the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission of Inquiry which were classified into the following general categories: Identification and provisional vulnerability assessment of URM and RC buildings and building components; Testing, assessment, and retrofitting of URM walls loaded out-of-plane, with a particular focus on highly vulnerable URM cavity walls; Testing and assessment of RC frame components, especially those with presumably non-ductile reinforcement detailing; Portfolio management considering risks, regulations, and potential costs for a portfolio that includes several potentially earthquake-vulnerable buildings; and Ongoing investigations and proposed research needs. While the findings from the reported research have implications for seismic assessments of buildings across New Zealand and elsewhere, an emphasis was placed on Auckland given this research program‘s partnership with the Auckland Council, the Auckland region accounting for about a third each of the country‘s population and economic production, and the number and variety of buildings within the Auckland building stock. An additional evaluation of a historic building stock was carried out for select buildings located in Hawke‘s Bay, and additional experimental testing was carried out for select buildings located in Hawke‘s Bay and Christchurch.
A photograph of a tag on a wall made of concrete blocks. The wall is near the railway tracks which run under the Durham Street over bridge. The tag reads, "JFK".
A photograph of street art on a building in New Brighton. The artwork consists of political and earthquake-related newspaper clippings and leaflets pasted to a concrete block wall. At the bottom of the piece is a leaflet with the word "You" written in blue, capital letters.
A photograph of a detail of street art on a building in New Brighton. The artwork consists of political and earthquake-related newspaper clippings and leaflets pasted to a concrete block wall. At the bottom of the piece is a leaflet with the word "You" written in blue, capital letters.