Christchurch report available to Chinese structural engineering community

By Peter Murphy

"Reconstructing Christchurch: A Seismic Shift in Building Structural System" details the reconstruction of Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand following the 2010-11 earthquake series that shut down the city’s central business district for years.

Bruneau, a professor in UB’s Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, and Greg MacRae, professor at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch developed the 2018 report as a resource for other urban areas that experience natural disasters.

Wei Wang, deputy head of the Department of Structural Engineering at Tongji University in China translated the report in an effort to “make the Chinese structural engineering community aware of our report,” according to Bruneau and MacRae.

“We are honored that Professor Wang, both in his capacity as Deputy Head of the Department of Structural Engineering at Tongji University and as an accomplished researcher who has significantly contributed to earthquake engineering,” according to the translation’s preface.

Bruneau and MacRae visited Christchurch several times during its rebuild. Reinforced concrete structures had been demolished, and the number of buildings with steel structures increased substantially. The authors examined the technical, sociological and political choices associated with the decisions to use steel for the city’s reconstruction.

“Beyond this post-earthquake perspective, the report also contains information that can be uniquely useful in China,” Bruneau says, “China is experiencing unprecedented growth. Where open fields used to be, new suburbs and cities are emerging. Older suburbs are being demolished, and new buildings and infrastructure are replacing them. This puts structural engineers in a unique position to make decisions that impact the future of these new developments.”

Many design code regulations around the world are intended to prevent loss of life. Based on the study, however, some of the decision makers have additional goals for the resiliency of their buildings. “What emerged through this study is that many building owners and tenants – and the engineers who design these structures – want to prevent the loss of buildings,” Bruneau says.

The authors hope this report will inform decision-making regarding structural systems, and help China achieve disaster resilient communities.

“To achieve community infrastructure resilience considering earthquakes and other disasters,” says Bruneau, “minimal damage as well as reparability are essential.”