1. CHRISTCHURCH REBUILD “THE LONG JOURNEY” HOW MANY YEARS IS YOUR RECOVERY PLAN
PAST BUILDING STANDARDS WERE A SUCCESS IN SAVING LIVES
BUT NEW STANDARDS ARE SLOWING THE REBUILD

2. Typical streetscapes 3 years post earthquake
3000 buildings provided safe refuge and egress to occupants
Over 1200 of them are damaged and must be demolished

3. At the beginning of the 3rd year there was now where to go in the CBD without hearing the sound of concrete demolition
Many stores like this one are posted as dangerous and have not been touched for over 2 years.
The new normal for Christchurch residents

4. Landmarks and history A church almost as old as the City
The old City Hall
A church almost as old as the City

5. Getting around requires expecting the unexpected.
Roads are closed with no predictability by infrastructure repairs, building demolition and flooding.

7. HOMES WERE RELATIVELY SAFE DURING THE QUAKE
180,000 Single Family residences with no loss of life
10,000 Residences require demolition
100,000 Residences require significant repairs
17000 New homes will need to be constructed

8. One of the hardest hit residential areas.

9. The time of day of the earthquake helped reduce the potential loss of life in homes.

10. An example of the many residential areas affected by Liquefaction

11. Volunteers help remove liquefaction from private and public lands

12. Flooding resulted from subsidence due to liquefaction and damaged infrastructure.

13. An area where some of the homes slated for removal were located.

14. Green field development areas.
Sites for new home construction are readily available but the soil conditions are challenging causing the foundation costs to vary from $20K to $100K for the same house

15. Typical new subdivision a 20 minute drive from the CBD

16. Thousands of new lots like this one have been developed in the past 3 years. Demand for new homes results from both earthquake damage and population growth.

17. In a country with limited timber supply steel framing has a significant market share.

18. Most homes are “spec built” by large contracting companies and can go from ground breaking to furniture in 3 to 4 months.

19. Commercial Buildings provided thousands of occupants safe refuge and escape. There are 3 notable exceptions.
Facade Failures on older buildings

20. A 50 year old office building
Some cosmetic upgrades had been done over the past 20 years. This represents the building condition immediately prior to the earthquake.
It was reduced to this state in 45 seconds.

21. A 30 year old office building
Pre-earthquake condition
The building completely collapsed in 45 seconds.

22. Months after the site was cleaned up the “pivotal” elevator shaft remains just prior to demolition

23. Over 1200 commercial buildings primarily in the CBD must be demolished

24. The CBD

25. Where do you start
For 3 years nothing is done unless or until it becomes a hazard. In the 4th and 5th year demolition began to be driven by redevelopment.

26. A typical building which withstood the earthquake allowing the occupants to escape but damaged beyond repair.
Soon to be thousands of tonnes of undesirable solid waste
Take a close look at the top of the boom waiting to move to the next site

27. While approximately 3% of the population has permanently left Christchurch life goes on for others.
New Regent Street. Notice the Tram tracks
Punting on the Avon. While the Avon remains a beautiful joy for all residents it significantly contributed the extent of the damage during the earthquake.

28. “Keep Calm and Carry On”
This is a common refrain usually delivered with a smile.

29. All the waste finds it’s way to landfill sites
The building waste from thousands of houses and over a thousand commercial buildings along with 400,000 tons of silt from liquefaction created a need for an entirely new site
The site also required a forensic area due to the possibility that human remains may remain in the building waste.

30. Most municipalities spend decades planning and developing new landfill sites this size
The location had to take into consideration more than a decade of daily trips for hundreds of huge trucks full of demolition waste traveling to the landfill site.
Reunderstanding ocean front development

31. Commercial construction is starting to move
Government is stimulating the construction effort with core building projects in precincts near the CBD.
Financing has been an impediment. During the first 2 years there were several aftershocks over 6 on the Richter Scale. Each time financing was suspended for 3 months.
The developers are not sure what to build in the CBD because the public may not feel comfortable in the area or in the buildings.

32. Constant Road Network Disruptions
1000 Km’s or 52% of the road network is damaged.
500 Km’s of water supply system is damaged.
Storm Sewer and Waste collection systems have leaks and disturb grades. There are areas with thousands of homes with land settlement of 1.5 meters.

33. Over 3 Billion Dollars allocated for Sewer and Water infrastructure recuperation
This amount will not be enough to complete the work.
The storm water system cannot keep up with the inflow because outflows are now below sea level due to liquifaction settlement.
The repairs will likely take more than 10 years.

34. Growing up in a city forced to reinvent itself
Hundreds of thousands of traffic cones are constantly present in the City creating a daily change in “Routine Travel” plans. On the anniversary of the February earthquake most of them can be found with a flower at the top.
These children will grow up knowing this as normal.

35. Stress is a significant factor in the recovery
80% of the people have said that their lives have been significantly effected by the earthquake.
Approximately 10,000 people or 3% of the population have left the city permanently.
Everyone of the after shocks causes an adrenaline reaction in most people because they never know if it is another major quake coming. There have been 11,000 aftershocks since September 2010

36. What do you think
How many years is the recovery plan in your jurisdiction?
Should we expect more resilient buildings?
Are we planning for massive infrastructure damage?
Does your jurisdiction’s plan anticipate 80% of your community being under stress for a decade?