The Performance of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Swarm

[Sally Furniss]

The Commission sought the advice of Associate Professor Jason Ingham from Auckland University and Professor Michael Griffith from Adelaide University on the Performance of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Swarm. Unreinforced masonry is defined as a construction of clay brick, concrete blocks or natural stone units bound together using lime or cement mortar, without any reinforcing elements such as steel reinforcing bars.


Their report discusses the architectural characteristics and seismic vulnerability of unreinforced masonry buildings in New Zealand, makes observations about the performance of such buildings in the Canterbury earthquakes and available techniques for seismic upgrading. Section 7 recommends certain structural elements of all unreinforced masonry buildings be improved to meet the standard for new buildings and that other elements be improved to meet at least 67% of the standard required for new buildings. The authors also recommend that there be one national standard instead of policies being set by individual territorial authorities.


Due to the size of the report, it is divided into the following segments:


Table of Contents, Glossary, Executive Summary (.PDF) 412 kb
Section 1 Introduction and Background (.PDF) 1.9 mb


Section 2 The Architectural Characteristics and the Number and Seismic Vulnerability of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in New Zealand

• Pages 18 - 24 (.PDF) 1.94 mb
• Pages 25 - 32 (.PDF) 394 kb

Section 3 Observed Performance of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Swarm

• Page 34 - 41 (.PDF) 960 kb
• Page 42 - 45 (.PDF) 799 kb
• Page 46 - 47 (.PDF) 2.1 mb
• Page 48 - 49 (.PDF) 445 kb
• Page 50 - 58 (.PDF) 895 kb
• Page 59 - 66 (PDF) 634 kb

Section 4 Techniques for the Seismic Improvement of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings (.PDF) 1.40 mb


Section 5 Set of Representative Buildings

• Page 87-101 (.PDF) 1.88 mb
• Page 102-107 (.PDF) 1.08 mb

Section 6 Demolition Statistics and Information on the Cost of Seismic Improvement; Section 7 Recommendations and Closing Remarks; Section 8 References (.PDF) 656 kb
Appendix A Terms of Reference Royal Commission of Inquiry into Building Failure Caused by the Canterbury Earthquakes; Appendix B Estimation of URM building population and distribution; Appendix C List of demolished buildings (.PDF) 609 kb


Commission's summary of the report (.PDF) 232 kb

Submissions

Submissions must be received by 14 October 2011.
Peer Reviews

To ensure that advice given to the Commission reflects international understandings and best practice, this report will be peer reviewed separately by:

• Structural eingineer Fred Turner of California's Seismic Safety Commission
• Bret Lizundia of San Franciso-based structural engineering and geotechnical firm Rutherford and Chekene

Both peer reviews will be published on this website when they are available

http://canterbury.royalcommission.g...-in-the-2010-2011-Canterbury-Earthquake-Swarm