To rebuild or repair? How to fix earthquake affected structures earmarked for demolition

Many buildings currently slated for removal or rebuild in Christchurch and other earthquake affected geographies could be remediated with the help of proven ground engineering methods developed and tested by Mainmark. AMI Stadium at Lancaster Park is one such example.

|  Continue to read the letter here  |  Dec 14,  2016  |

Engineers say some Wellington buildings need targeted checks in the interests of public safety.

New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) President Peter Smith says that after completing hundreds of rapid assessments, engineers have developed a profile of Wellington buildings that suffered the most damage in the Kaikoura earthquake or are susceptible to a similar future event.

“The Council is being proactive in requiring all buildings fitting this profile to have targeted evaluations. We fully support the measures that the Council is taking.”

“The buildings that need targeted evaluation share key characteristics. These include being medium height and having concrete frames with precast floors. Other characteristics include being sited on soft soils or ridgelines, having significant damage to non-structural elements, demonstrating signs of stretch in carpet tiles or ceilings, or damage to façades.

“This quake has generated severe shaking in buildings with these characteristics. Some of these buildings have been tested beyond their design loadings.”

Structural Engineering Society (SESOC) President Paul Campbell says engineers now understand that damage from the Kaikoura earthquake in Wellington was highly selective.

“As well as carrying out hundreds of assessments, engineers have been working hard to analyse emerging patterns of damage across Wellington buildings.”

Mr Campbell says the targeted damage evaluations mandated by the Council will involve reviewing structural drawings and are likely to be invasive. This means potentially taking up some floor coverings, stripping off selected wall linings and inspecting ceiling spaces to look for specific patterns of damage.

“How long it takes depends on the size of the building and availability of drawings but you would normally expect the inspection component to be completed in a day.”

Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand Chief Executive Susan Freeman-Greene says engineers remain concerned about public safety in and around buildings categorised as earthquake prone, given the current heightened risk of aftershocks.

“The energy of the Kaikoura earthquake wasn’t focused on shorter, stiffer buildings, some of which are categorised as earthquake prone.

“It’s important to realise that earthquake-prone buildings are likely to perform poorly in an earthquake centred closer to Wellington.”

Ms Freeman-Greene says structural engineers are being brought in from outside Wellington to help meet current demand.

“IPENZ appreciates the close collaboration between the Council and the engineering profession.”

|  An IPENZ release  |  Dec 20, 2016  |

New Zealand is into its fifth straight year of strong growth in construction, with more than 30,000 homes consented in the year to October and record levels of commercial and infrastructure investment, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

“Residential construction activity has reached $12.5 billion, an all-time high, and the number of homes consented has topped 30,000. This is the longest and strongest residential construction boom in New Zealand history, with five straight years of growth averaging over 20 per cent per annum. This is as fast as you can practically grow a sector as large and as complex as construction without compromising quality,” Dr Smith says.

“The 30,000 homes per year now being built is the fastest rate ever, with the exception of 2004 and the mid 1970s. The 2004 boom was focussed on thousands of small apartments in Auckland that are no longer allowed, and the 1974 boom rapidly crashed due to the unsustainable mix of high inflation and low interest government loans. The current boom is much more sustainable, better balanced nationwide and also involves record levels of investment in commercial and infrastructure construction.

“This ongoing strong growth shows the Government’s programme to increase housing supply is working. We have aggressively increased land supply with Special Housing Areas in the short-term, changes to Auckland’s planning in the medium term, and the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity and Resource Management Act reforms in the long term.

“We have complemented this with the Crown Land Programme and a record level of direct Government projects to build homes, such as Hobsonville. We’ve also provided record levels of assistance for first-home buyers with the KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme, which has helped more than 20,000 people into their first home with about $500 million in KiwiSaver withdrawals for a deposit.

“Further reforms are in the pipeline to further grow the supply of housing. This Government is step by step, development by development, getting on and addressing New Zealand’s housing challenges.”

Statistics New Zealand data shows that building consent are at a 10 year high, even when there is still a shortage of housing. The construction sector is struggling to produce the skills needed to meet demand.

Building consents are at their highest in more than 10 years, but with the industry coming off such a low base, capacity is still a key issue.

Building consent data released today by Statistics New Zealand shows that to the end of October 24,789 new homes gained building consents this calendar year and 30,158 over the past 12 months. This is the highest number since 2004, but is still well below the high of 1973 when just fewer than 40,000 new homes were consented.

Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) Chief Executive Warwick Quinn predicts the 2016 year to end around 30,000 consents up on 2015. He says Canterbury and Auckland make up 53% of all consents issued which is slightly down on previous years. Auckland is expected to consent around 10,000 new homes up about 8% on 2015.

Quinn says 30,000 consents is 6.33 builds per 1,000 people and is approaching New Zealand’s long run historical rate of 6.58 builds per 1,000 people. This is double the rate of 3.12 builds per 1,000 people in 2011 when construction was at its lowest level of activity since records began.

While the turnaround is welcomed Quinn says 30,000 consents per annum needs to be the new norm and coming off such a low base the construction sector is struggling to produce the skills needed to meet demand. Quinn says the BCITO has a record number of apprentices in training and recently passed the 10,000 number for the first time, but more are needed.

“While 10,000 apprentices is a new milestone for us it is also our new normal and must be increased if we are to successfully fill the skills gap in construction” Quinn says.

“Most of our growth comes from those firms that traditionally have apprentices so we want to increase the number of employers who train. In order to do that we need to have training programmes that align more closely with their business needs and how the industry in general is structured,” he says.

BCITO has been working closely with the Tertiary Education Commission and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to explore how this might be done and a pilot will be launched in the New Year to test demand and options. Quinn says the competition to attract people into the trades is high so broadening the opportunities and being flexible in our approach to producing the skills the market needs will hopefully entice more into the industry. Quinn says there has never been a better time to get into construction with a strong forward work projection and great job security.

The LoadScan Load Volume Scanner (LVS) is the original non-contact ‘drive-through’ lorry and dump truck load measurement instrument for the measurement of bulk materials volumes, and LoadScan are the leading international manufacturer of payload volume scanner and load management solutions for the construction, mining, mulch and biomass, quarry and sandpit, oil and gas as well as many other industries. LoadScan are the leading experts in volumetric truck load measurement solutions.

The Load Volume Scanner was developed in 1998 to accurately tally the movements of aggregate and spoil being moved onto, off and around earthworks sites.The need for such a product came from the civil construction industry where engineering materials for the construction of roadways, subdivisions, landfills, building sites etc are tendered, scheduled and paid for using volume measures. These materials are generally carted by truck and trailer, and volumetric truck measure is a standard measure for the monitoring or trading of bulk quantities.

Up until this time there was no satisfactory means of measuring load volumes quickly and accurately. Quarries, cartage companies and construction contractors have traditionally used weight as their trade measure. Load volumes are computed from assumed bulk densities (mass/volume ratios), but this method can be inaccurate. It is also labour intensive and time consuming for the contractor who receives product purchased by volume measure to manually level and check each truck load.

LoadScan has continued to develop the LVS product and LVS devices are successfully operated on a full spectrum of truck and trailer designs including on-road truck and trailer units, semi-trailers and centre-dumpers, as well as off-road articulated dumpers and quarry trucks. The Load Volume Scanner (LVS) design for conventional truck and trailer units has been approved for trade use within New Zealand and Australia, trade approval was first gained in New Zealand in 1999 by the New Zealand government’s Measurement and Product Safety Service (MAPSS) and in Australia in 2010 by the National Measurement Institute (NMI). Patents have also been granted for the LVS design.

The LVS is a proven, reliable technology that receives glowing accolades from its users so it is no surprise LoadScan is rapidly gaining recognition in the civil construction, quarrying, Mining and bark & mulch products industries. The Loadscan Load Volume Scanners are working in these industries in 10 countries around the globe, all manufactured and tested at their facility in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Asahi Beverages, comprising some of Australia and New Zealand’s most successful beverage businesses, including Schweppes Australia, Asahi Premium Beverages, Independent Liquor and The Better Drinks Co., has awarded Dematic a contract to build a high bay warehouse storage facility.

The warehouse in Heathwood, Queensland, will consist of a satellite storage solution containing six aisles of six-deep satellite ColbyRack capable of storing 28,000 pallets. The automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) will include six new Dematic RapidStore Storage Retrieval Machines (SRMs) with Dematic’s latest “free roaming” Automover satellite carts. The solution will also feature Skate Auto-loading Truck Docks, a pallet conveyor system, stretch wrapper, automatic barcode labelling, and a full case picking area.

“Dematic was selected by Asahi Beverages as their preferred logistics integration partner following an extensive tender process that assessed experience, comprehensiveness of offering, and local capability,” said David Rubie, Dematic’s Manager of Industry Logistics. “We look forward to working with Asahi Beverages to deliver a supply chain solution that is a core component of their ongoing success.”

“Our new Queensland high bay warehouse is another major step forward in the transformation of our customer centric logistics network,” said Tracey Wagner, General Manager, Logistics and Customer Operations, Asahi Beverages. “We are pleased to be working with an experienced integrator such as Dematic on this crucial program.

Cabinet has agreed to reinstate the coastal route to Kaikoura and will provide additional funding to speed up the process, Transport Minister Simon Bridges has announced.

The existing State Highway 1 and rail corridor along the coastal route to the north and south of Kaikoura will be rebuilt, with additional improvements to increase safety and resilience.

“Since the day of the earthquake, restoring access to Kaikoura has been our number one priority. Agreeing to restore the coastal route demonstrates our ongoing commitment to getting this region back on its feet as quickly as possible,” Mr Bridges says.

“To provide certainty, the Crown will fund the work required. Exact costs are still being determined, but the current estimate is between $1.4 billion and $2 billion.

“In addition, emergency legislation passed through Parliament last week will cut through red tape, and ensure repairs to the existing route can be accelerated.”

An Order in Council is currently being prepared that will accelerate the reinstatement of State Highway 1 north and south of Kaikōura.

Mr Bridges says that even with an accelerated process, there is a long way to go.

“The precise work required to repair the route is still under investigation and it will be a very complex job. However, the Government is confident that limited access via the coastal route can be restored in about 12 months.

“Rebuilding a stronger, more resilient coastal route will give Kaikoura residents the security of a second connection to the rest of the South Island."

The NZ Transport Agency will repair and maintain the road for vehicles travelling through the Springs Junction and Lewis Pass route over the weeks and months ahead.

The Transport Agency will also work with local government to repair and maintain the Kaikoura emergency access route, and bring other roads back into service in the leadup to Christmas.

Auckland's skyline will get a touch of Manhattan when its first major structural steel-framed high-rise commercial tower rises on the ex-Downtown site.Instead of the block-like construction technique Aucklanders are used to, giant steel beams will be trucked into the city, then bolted and welded together using the same techniques which created many of the buildings on New York's skyline.Scott Pritchard, chief executive of Precinct Properties which is developing the 39-level 100-shop Auckland waterfront block, said construction materials and techniques to be used would be unique but also necessary to protect Auckland Transport's new City Rail Link tunnels from the gigantic new tower's weight."This is the first major Auckland structural steel high-rise," he said.A diagrid structural steel frame will form the new PwC building's skeleton, rather than reinforced concrete, common in other major Auckland towers, Pritchard said."The benefits for the occupants is they're in a really strong building. It's slightly more expensive to build but faster," he said, estimating a 10 per cent time saving on more traditional construction.Structural steel is far more common in American high-rise construction, particularly in New York and that's not where the similarities with Commercial Bay end, he said."The steel is coming from Herrick in the US, working with Culham Engineering in New Zealand. They're joint providers of the steel which Herrick is manufacturing in the US and Thailand," he said.Continued below.Related Content Video Watch: $850m Commercial Bay building site in...

|  Continue Reading |  Dec 12, 2016

Melbourne, Australia, Dec 13, 2016 - (ABN Newswire) - Aconex Limited (ASX:ACX), provider of the #1 platform connecting teams on the world's largest construction and engineering projects, today announced a three-year enterprise agreement with Fletcher Building Limited (NZE:FBU) (ASX:FBU), one of the largest tier-one main contractors in New Zealand. Under the agreement, Fletcher will standardise on Aconex solutions across all construction business divisions, which includes Fletcher Building and Interiors, Fletcher Construction, Fletcher Infrastructure, and Fletcher Living. Aconex will also be the preferred solution for Fletcher South Pacific and Higgins Contracting. The enterprise-wide engagement with Fletcher Building expands a prior agreement between Aconex and Fletcher Construction for all of that division's building projects. One of the better known Fletcher projects supported by Aconex was the US$1.9-billion Canterbury Earthquake Recovery programme, which involved the repair of more than 180,000 properties damaged in the 2010 disaster - http://www.aconex.com/projects/canterbury-earthquake-recovery. Under the new agreement, Aconex will also help Fletcher Infrastructure manage project information and processes for government and infrastructure developments. "We have helped Fletcher Construction deliver a number of commercial and residential projects over the last several years, and our enterprise agreement with the parent company builds on this successful partnership," said Leigh Jasper, Aconex CEO. "We now look forward to working with all divisions of Fletcher Building to continue strengthening their position as a leading force in the New Zealand construction market." About Fletcher Building Fletcher Building is an integrated manufacturer and distributor of infrastructure and building products, and a construction company. From the smallest grain of sand to projects of great scale, we make, deliver and build to improve infrastructure, build communities and strengthen economies. We have 20,000 people working in 35 business groups in 45 countries. For more, visit http://www.fbu.com. About Aconex Ltd: Aconex Limited (ASX:ACX) provides a leading cloud and mobile collaboration platform for the global construction industry. The platform connects owners, contractors and their project teams in the construction, infrastructure, and energy and resources sectors, providing project-wide visibility and control between the many different organisations collaborating across their projects. With more than 70,000 user organisations and over $1 trillion of project value delivered in more than 70 countries, Aconex is the industry's most widely adopted and trusted platform. Founded in 2000, Aconex has 47 offices in 23 countries around the world, including headquarters in Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco, California. The company's ordinary shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the ticker code ACX and are included in the S&P / ASX 200 Index.

An international construction conference being held in Auckland early next year will showcase leading edge technology, construction innovation, practices and methods that have the potential to transform the sector and improve our built environment.

The ‘Constructing our World - People, Performance, Purpose’ conference will take place from 22-24 March 2017 and is being hosted by the New Zealand Institute of Building (NZIOB) in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Building (AIB) and the Singapore Institute of Building (SIBL). Subsequent international construction conferences will occur in Australia in 2019 and Singapore in 2021.

NZIOB chief executive Malcolm Fleming said, “There is a global groundswell underway that is rapidly changing the construction industry. Across the supply chain, construction is becoming increasingly technology rich and innovation focused. The ‘Constructing our World’ conference will bring speakers who are at the forefront of these changes to New Zealand to share how the next wave of construction ‘best practice’ could transform the sector and our built environment.

“Like the NZIOB, the AIB and SIBL uniquely represent the entire construction sector in their home countries. This conference is therefore an exciting opportunity for the NZIOB and our Asia Pacific partners to showcase global construction trends across the supply chain.”

‘Constructing our World’ will feature speakers from Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, the UK, Singapore, South Africa and the USA, in addition to leading New Zealand industry representatives.

One of the conference’s keynote speakers is David Philp, an early adopter of practical change and purposeful collaboration. David is Global Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Information Management Consultancy Director for AECOM, the international engineering design and services firm.

He will discuss international best practice and the lessons learned from the UK BIM mandate. The UK’s Government Construction Strategy has made BIM mandatory for all Government projects since April 2016. This has resulted in a marked uptake of BIM so that the UK now ranks alongside Singapore, USA and Scandinavia (in particular Finland) in terms of BIM usage. BIM enables all those who are involved in the Design, Documentation, and Delivery of construction projects to optimize their actions, resulting in a greater whole life value for the asset.

Helena Lidelow, Associate Professor at the Lulea University of Technology in Sweden, is another confirmed keynote speaker. She will present on ‘Industrialised construction in Sweden - from single-family homes to multi-family buildings’.

Helena is the Platform Manager at Lindbacks, Sweden’s leader in the industrialised construction of apartment buildings. Helena believes that a “systems builder must manage technology, the building process, and the business situation simultaneously. The balance between the three is more important to master than optimising each of them separately.”

She has a PhD from Lulea University of Technology on timber structures and has been teaching part-time at Lulea as an Associate Professor since 2009.

Dr George Quezada from Australia is an innovation scientist with CSIRO I Data61. His keynote presentation is titled ‘Scenarios for the future of construction’. George will present findings from a recent scenario planning study on the future of Queensland’s construction industry, the Farsight Report. This project, undertaken in partnership with Construction Skills Queensland, engaged 80 leading experts across the state.

The Farsight Report asked what the industry could look like in 20 years’ time, and how might job profiles and skills requirements change? To explore answers to these questions, four scenarios were developed: the digital evolution; smart collaboration; globally challenged; and the rise of the robots. The future of the construction landscape under these scenarios is barely recognisable from today. This presentation will discuss important implications and strategies for navigating this digital age.

NZIOB acknowledge the support of platinum conference sponsors GIB® and AECOM.

Malcolm Fleming said, “Constructing our World’ is an exciting opportunity for the NZIOB and our Asia Pacific partners. We are aiming to provide access to global construction trends that will enable our members to innovate and build ‘better, faster, cheaper’ and so deliver an affordable, sustainable and quality built environment for New Zealand.”

Release dated Dec 12, 2016