EARTHQUAKE DEMOLITION Thread

[Dockside]

Oh my :O
The demolition companies in Christchurch must be working on overdrive with that amount of demolition going on, the sound of rubble smashing must be heard through out the whole city!
Ive not seen a city go through such a dramatic transformation in such a short time ever, and when the rebuilding picks up pace its going to change again.
Long after the after shocks have stopped and life in Christchurch returns back to normal i would expect that the legacy of that moment that changed the city for ever will linger on in the generations that lived through it..

[Milan Luka]

Its mindboggling. I honestly dont think anyone here really comprehends what is going on around them. But then so many people still seem to be shellshocked.

So difficult to comprehend to be one day living a normal everyday like in a 1st world city to this...


And yes the city is covered in dusty, is noisy and full of itinerant guys in high vis and the streets are clogged with heavy vehicles. Its like weve gone from a sedate pleasant little garden city to a Western Australia mining town overnight.

[Milan Luka]

Convention Centre

[Milan Luka]

Crowne Plaza

[MattTheTubaGuy]

WOW, the convention centre is gone?!
that was quick!

[Jim856796]

Another demolition confirmed: Inland revenue Building, with 8 floors and was born in 2007, to be torn down due to earthquake damage.

[jarden]

Convention centre would be easy to dismantle it as built tilt slab style just un do the bolts and pull the slab off in one piece. The centre was built on the cheap for only $19 million

[KaneD]

Originally Posted by Jim856796

Another demolition confirmed: Inland revenue Building, with 8 floors and was born in 2007, to be torn down due to earthquake damage.

That one is a shame... while it's wasn't an overly attractive building, it's wan't completely ugly either and was a good boost for that madras st area which was a little run down prior.

especially sad that it was such a new building and by total floor space, the largest office building in the CBD - it was a good building with a large floorplate... unusual for Chch.

[JeremyM2]

Originally Posted by Milan Luka

Its mindboggling. I honestly dont think anyone here really comprehends what is going on around them. But then so many people still seem to be shellshocked.

So difficult to comprehend to be one day living a normal everyday like in a 1st world city to this...


And yes the city is covered in dusty, is noisy and full of itinerant guys in high vis and the streets are clogged with heavy vehicles. Its like weve gone from a sedate pleasant little garden city to a Western Australia mining town overnight.

As I sit here reading this while the pile driver on the road outside does its thing and shakes the house at 5-second intervals I feel compelled to agree

[SYDNEY]

Crowne Plaza ....

[fozzy]

Cranmer courts is now going to be demolished "such a shame"

[Skymino]

is it possible to see or know which buildings will be reconstructed and what will be lost forever?

[Davee]

Originally Posted by fozzy

Cranmer courts is now going to be demolished "such a shame"

I just feel sick and powerless. I've had no response to any letters or emails I've sent about the destruction of Christchurch's Heritage....

[HavanaClub]

Originally Posted by Skymino

is it possible to see or know which buildings will be reconstructed and what will be lost forever?

I don't know of any buildings that will be reconstructed, with the possible exception of the Arts Centre. Even that still has a question mark.

Here is the Cranmer article: http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/new...-appear-doomed

To NZers: I remember during the election all the talk about rebuilding ChCh. I can't put my finger on anything the central Government has done to rebuild ChCh. I assume they are spending lots of money - but actually rebuilding something..? What am I missing?

[Skymino]

Are you saying that no building will be rebuilt, including the cathedral?

[timnz2000]

Of the heritage buildings lost or severely damaged in the quake (which was most if not all), only the Arts Centre seems to have any push behind for a rebuild. Possibly the Provincial Chambers too.

[Milan Luka]

Originally Posted by Skymino

Are you saying that no building will be rebuilt, including the cathedral?

Fingers crossed the Basilica will be rebuilt, the Arts Centre and also the Provincial Chambers.

An offensively small list in my opinion. Im really disgusted at how quickly some amazingly iconic buildings are being written off. But then if the population are too shellshocked to fight for the Anglican Cathedral then theres not much hope for other buildings.

I clearly recall Gerry Brownlee and John Key in March 2011 saying we will ensure that the Cathedral, the Provincial Chambers and the Arts Centre will be rebuilt. In fact Brownlee actually promised it saying they were integral to the history and future of the city.

I know without a doubt in 10 years time people will realise what idiots we were to 'allow' this wholesale destruction take place. On of the reasons I moved to Christchurch was the heritage, that unlike many Antipodean cities it had an attractive city centre and those that lived here actually cared about these treasures.

I shake my head now. Am at a lost to explain how this can be happening.

[Skymino]

Is a real shame, at least they could keep or rebuild parts of old buildings

[KaneD]

Originally Posted by Milan Luka

I know without a doubt in 10 years time people will realise what idiots we were to 'allow' this wholesale destruction take place. On of the reasons I moved to Christchurch was the heritage, that unlike many Antipodean cities it had an attractive city centre and those that lived here actually cared about these treasures.

I shake my head now. Am at a lost to explain how this can be happening.

It's all about insurance Milan Luka...

Most buildings are only being demolished because:

1) They are more expensive to replace rather than repair and the vast majority of insurance policies have *very limited* scope to allow the building to be rebuilt in it's former style and are instead based on *functional replacement* which means "same size, but with new materials"

2) The newer upgrades to the building code now require that any building repaired/rebuilt be made 100% of standard - Most older style buildings simply cannot be easily/cost effectively retrofitted to meet such standards.

3) Even if the building laws do allow certain buildings to be able to be repaired to a lower quake resistant standard, no body would insure them.

The hard facts are that there simply is not enough money to go around... suffice to say, if the quakes happened at the height of the economic cycle back in 2006 then I'm sure the labour govt at the time would have been happy to throw some of the $8bn surplus they racked up and the problem. The reality is that we don't have this spare cash.

The best we can hope for is for insurance companies and developers do their best to try and be sympathetic towards our heritage in the designs of their new replacement buildings.

So far, most proposals are nice-ish looking in their own right and fit todays modern styling, albeit a little bland, but whether they stand the test of time is yet to be seen.

I really hope that despite the heritage lost, we really end up with something that really makes Chch stand out.

I'd actually like to see a tourist attraction say in part of Hagley Park kind of like that one in the Netherlands called Madurodam - a miniture replica of the former city centre.

[Milan Luka]

Well put mate and I couldnt agree more re insurance and problems it is creating. Which is why it is so frustrating.

I dont buy the line though that Kiwis give that theres 'not enough money to do this'. It really seems to be an (especilly regional) Kiwi mindset which has constantly annoyed the shit out of me ever since I moved to this country.

This is an incredibly wealthy country and the possibilities to make more money are endless. Its pretty damn obvious to anyone that moves here that on the whole NZers are terrible at finding innovative ways to build the economy. While there are many people doing fantastic things I think its fair to generalise that people are quite limited in their outlook and therefore have this underlying thought that the money pool is also very limited. Its as though like is too comfortable here that people dont have to push for more- theres no need too. But then without going to deep into the psyche we all know that being austentacious is certainly frowned on.

While I dont profess to be an economic genius I can think of a number of ways we can get capital flowing to rebuild this town. Without a doubt the current government > which is apparently pro business> has offered nothing of substance financially to help. Their answer seems to be to create a money flow by giving millions to demolition companies and hope that trickles down through the local economy. Huh?