Story: Earthquakes

Page 4 Building for earthquake resistance

Napier Nurses Home (1st of 2)

Earthquake-resistant building

Strengthening Parliament Buildings

Fitting base isolation bearings

Earthquake-resistant houses

Strengthening the Thorndon overbridge

Engineers have a saying: Earthquakes dont kill people, buildings do. Destructive
earthquakes have taught New Zealanders hard lessons in designing safe buildings. In early
Wellington, buildings of brick and masonry collapsed in the 1848 earthquake. As a result, the
town was largely rebuilt in wood, and suffered less damage during the magnitude 8.2
earthquake of 1855.

Laws and building codes

Widespread damage from the 1929 Murchison and 1931 Hawkes Bay earthquakes had a
profound effect on public perceptions of the hazard posed by earthquakes. Attention was
focused on weaknesses in building construction, especially poor building standards and the
lack of any provision for earthquake-resistant design. This led to a draft by-law in 1931,
which was incorporated into a building code in 1935. The code recommended standards of
design and construction so that buildings could resist the horizontal motions created by
ground shaking. Masonry buildings had to be firmly bonded, with parts tied together so the
structure would move as one unit.
Building codes in 1965, 1976, 1984 and 1992 have added requirements to accommodate
changes in building materials and design. Rather than prescribing specific materials, designs
or construction methods, the 1992 New Zealand code outlines how a building must perform
to withstand the forces expected during an earthquake. This allows builders to use innovative
design and construction methods to create earthquake-resistant buildings. For a moderate
earthquake, the main aim is to protect a building from structural damage. For a major
earthquake, however, the goal is to protect life by ensuring a building will not collapse and
people can escape from it, even if the building itself is badly damaged.

Heritage or hazard?
Most older buildings in central Wellington were built between 1880 and 1930, and were not
designed to resist earthquakes. In the 1970s the city council required such buildings to be
strengthened. Many along Lambton Quay were replaced by new structures, and most of the
remaining older buildings have now been upgraded. Such measures do not bring a building
up to modern construction standards, but are aimed at avoiding collapse and minimising loss
of life. It is anticipated that many older buildings would be damaged in a large earthquake
and would ultimately need to be demolished.
Earlier building codes applied only to new construction, but current codes require many older
buildings to be brought up to specified safety standards. A number of historic buildings have
been strengthened, including New Zealands Parliament Buildings and the Wellington Town
Hall.

Designing earthquake-resistant structures

The department of civil engineering at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch has
gained international recognition for its research into the behaviour of reinforced and prestressed concrete in buildings and bridges during earthquakes. Their analysis and design
methods have been used in structural design codes both in New Zealand and overseas. Books
by New Zealand scientists and engineers have become standard texts.

Many buildings and bridges, both in New Zealand and overseas, are protected with lead
dampers and lead and rubber bearings invented by a New Zealander, Bill Robinson. These
devices in building foundations can reduce the motion caused by ground shaking. Te Papa
Tongarewa, the national museum of New Zealand, and Parliament Buildings have been fitted
with the bearings.

Protecting lifelines
City lifelines water, sewerage and drains, gas, electricity, telecommunications and transport
networks are also threatened by earthquakes. Lifeline engineering aims at reducing both the
damage and the time needed to restore services. In New Zealand several measures have been
undertaken to protect utilities. Flexible joints or ductile pipes have been used for water
pipelines across unstable ground to prevent rupture. Similarly, gas pipelines have been
welded to prevent breakage, or replaced by polythene. Some Wellington bridges and
overpasses have bearings or dampers to reduce movement, preventing concrete decks from
collapsing.

Jolt-proof joints
The Clyde Dam in Central Otago is built to withstand intense shaking, even though it is in a
region where the probability of a major earthquake is low. The dam is built across the River
Channel Fault, and has been constructed with a specially designed slip joint. If the land on
either side of the fault moves during an earthquake, the joint will allow sections of the dam to
shift up to 2 metres horizontally and 1 metre vertically without the dam failing.