DISCUSSION | Rebuilding CHC

[Milan Luka]

The temporary park thats sprung up opposite my old home on Victoria Street looks great. Really in keeping with that area and a million times better than the stock standard car parks that are replacing demolished buildings all over the city.

[Davee]

City leaders mark earthquake rebuild - GLENN CONWAY - The Press.



Earthquake Minister Gery Brownlee and Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker take turns manhandling a jackhammer at the start of the infrastructure rebuild of Christchurch this morning.

The $500 million rebuild of Christchurch's infrastructure was officially launched this morning.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker took turns handling a jackhammer on Burwood's Kingsford St to signal the start of repairs to the city's water, sewerage and other damaged infrastructure.

Parker said the job of repairing and replacing damaged services was a massive one, but he and Brownlee both said the resilience and character of Canterbury residents meant those challenges would be met.

More than 200 people attended a ceremony at Burwood Park to launch the start of the infrastructure rebuild.

The event included a blessing and breakfast for invited guests, which included key contractors and their staff who will get their hands dirty making the repairs over the coming months.

Recovery on agenda fortnightly

The Christchurch City Council will hold fortnightly meetings on earthquake recovery instead of creating a committee.

Councillor Tim Carter yesterday called for a new committee to tackle what he said was the most important issue facing the city.

But after a lengthy debate at yesterday's council meeting, Carter agreed to a compromise that means the council will meet fortnightly to discuss earthquake matters.

Carter said the recovery had to be the council's highest priority, yet it had no committee directly handling those issues. Other councillors believed the full council was better placed to make earthquake-related decisions quicker.

Carter agreed to suggestions from Mayor Bob Parker and council chief executive Tony Marryatt that special regular council meetings would serve the same purpose as a committee. These were unanimously supported.

[Brisol]

Yay! An uninspired 2 level replacement for the old Westende Jewellers site on Manchester street. I thought this was supposed to be regulated?
Great addition to the CBD, suppose beggars cannot be choosers...

[jarden]

Maybe they can't afford a qualified architect.

[Fantastic Mr. Fox]

If you don't like that, you're going to hate the replacement for Manchester Courts - I believe its going to be 4, maybe 5 levels tops, also sounds like it may be designed by the insurance companies...

[Brisol]

Originally Posted by Fantastic Mr. Fox

If you don't like that, you're going to hate the replacement for Manchester Courts - I believe its going to be 4, maybe 5 levels tops, also sounds like it may be designed by the insurance companies...

haha, oh dear, any renders?

[Davee]

The first search of the devastated tower of Christ Church Cathedral has revealed no sign of life beneath the rubble – but mayor Bob Parker has vowed it will be rebuilt.

Yesterday, rescue workers lowered a search camera into the destroyed tower but found "no sound, nothing" of the 22 people believed to be missing there.

The Cathedral's Dean, the Very Rev Peter Beck, said it was simply impossible to know how many people were inside the tower when the quake struck.

Mr Parker said the cathedral would stand again.

"There is some discussion that that is a building we could rebuild brick by brick, stone by stone. We need to find some symbols like that. The scale of what has happened here means we will have to take some bold steps."

Emergency services were working "carefully and methodically" to remove loose masonry piece by piece.

Yesterday, cameras were lowered into the stone-filled tower of the cathedral by workers suspended above the devastation by a crane.

Emergency worker Ian Oliver said the men were focused on slowly clearing away the unstable stones.

"They're knocking the top of the bricks off and making it safe for the guys to go in. We put a camera in before but there was nothing. No sound, nothing."

Another worker on the site said those inside the building had "no chance".

"I mean, look at the amount of bricks in there. A small brick can kill you – that is a landslide."

Dean Beck said he was feeling the damage to the church in "a very deep way".

"At some point I'm going to need to cry but I'm just too busy to do that at the moment.

"I'm deeply aware how significant the cathedral is for Christchurch. So many people see it as a symbol of our city and how broken it is at the moment."

When the quake hit he was sitting in his office and did not realise how devastated the building was till later.

"I walked through this thick fog of dust. I had no idea of the damage till I looked up and saw the sky where the roof should be."

The tower – where the dead are believed to be – must have "imploded".

"We simply don't know how many people were in there. I know there were people in the tower. There is no doubt there are some dead in there."

He knew the cathedral was badly damaged and would probably have to be demolished.

[GoluBoy]

Originally Posted by Fantastic Mr. Fox

If you don't like that, you're going to hate the replacement for Manchester Courts - I believe its going to be 4, maybe 5 levels tops, also sounds like it may be designed by the insurance companies...

Sounds very much like Insurance companies dictating how Christchurch will be rebuilt.From 1920's-30's red-bricks & mortar,to an architectural standard not uncommon in Uncle Scrooge mentality.

Question is: Does the above development meet and exceed earthquake standards common-place in Japan?.

[KLK]

Originally Posted by Fantastic Mr. Fox

also sounds like it may be designed by the insurance companies...

Or maybe just a typical NZ architecture firm?

Look at all of the threads covering new developments in the major centers. Low rise, square box, glass overload. It's all the same. Very little imagination in our developers and our architects. And its the same name featuring on major developments.

If I was a major developer in NZ, I would refuse to allow these firms to enter any design competition. They have bored us long enough.

[hellospank25]

Do you think that now that most of the city will have to be rebuilt from scratch there could be some proposal about establishing a tram network?

[Indictable]

They've been trying to get a tram network for a while now, just the September and now the Feb quakes have just taken priority..

[GI_Joint]

Do you guys think this quake has diminished any chance of Christchurch getting future high rise buildings?
I don't think people would be too keen on having new buildings any higher than a few floors.

[Jim856796]

Maybe Christchurch needs to get earthquake-resistant buildings like in Los Angeles and Mexico City. No current building in Christchurch is earthquake-resistant.

[jerseyboi]

Said this in other eathquake thread, City wants rebuilding else where
its directly on fault line and any rebuild is "bonkers".

[Indictable]

Originally Posted by GI_Joint

Do you guys think this quake has diminished any chance of Christchurch getting future high rise buildings?
I don't think people would be too keen on having new buildings any higher than a few floors.

It wont stop us getting high rises I don't think. WE just need them stronger

[GI_Joint]

Originally Posted by jerseyboi

Said this in other eathquake thread, City wants rebuilding else where
its directly on fault line and any rebuild is "bonkers".

You're "bonkers" they're not going to shift an entire city somewhere else.

[metroman]

Is it true that the Palms shopping centre is totally wrecked and will take up to a year to fix? I don't know how the city will rebuild, I wouldn't be surprised if a secondary cbd is built on the outskirts, not unlike Manukau.

[Rooty]

Originally Posted by Jim856796

Maybe Christchurch needs to get earthquake-resistant buildings like in Los Angeles and Mexico City. No current building in Christchurch is earthquake-resistant.

New Zealand quake raises questions about L.A. buildings

New Zealand shows even strong building codes are no match for monster earthquake, experts say

The devastation and loss of life in the Christchurch, New Zealand, quakes offer some sober lessons for California, earthquake experts said.....


.....Also, the highest ground acceleration recorded was greater than 2G, or twice the acceleration of gravity –- which would make Tuesday’s quake among the most powerful in terms of ground-shaking acceleration on record, said Hough. It was strong enough to throw objects in the air.

“There’s only a handful of records of shaking” as strong as 2G, Hough said.....


.....“In this case, I strongly suspect the accelerations just exceeded the design values,” Hough said. As recently as the 1980s, seismologists had believed that earthquakes couldn’t generally produce ground accelerations greater than about 0.5G. But scientists began understanding that ground accelerations could be much stronger after reviewing new data from newly constructed earthquake monitoring stations.

Hough said Tuesday’s quake offers a lesson in humility to California, showing what can happen when a quake is centered so close to the city center and populated by dense structures, some relatively new, and some historic.....


.....“Our instinct is that this exceeded the loads that even the modern buildings were designed for. We are almost certain,” said Ingham. “The assumption is that an earthquake of this size would have caused damage in any modern city anywhere.”

[Jim856796]

Earthquakes causing major-league damage to a major city are damnable.

[Indictable]

Originally Posted by metroman

Is it true that the Palms shopping centre is totally wrecked and will take up to a year to fix? I don't know how the city will rebuild, I wouldn't be surprised if a secondary cbd is built on the outskirts, not unlike Manukau.

It's fucked heaaaps. Not sue about rebuild though. Best mate works at Bakers Delight there and her boss told her to start looking for another job..