The Whakatāne District Council is expecting to receive a geotechnical report on the ground conditions underlying the town’s central business district by the end of April.
A geotechnical survey of the area was undertaken late last year, and the data produced is currently being analysed by GNS Science. Project manager Jeff Farrell says the project timing has been extended by a month to allow historical geotechnical data held by private sector engineers to be included in the study, ensuring that the data is as complete as possible.
“We expect the findings to be reported to Council in May, and after that the information will be made available to building owners, engineers and interested parties to help inform the assessments of the work required to strengthen earthquake-prone buildings in the town centre,” Mr Farrell says.
The geotechnical study is the second phase of a Council initiative to facilitate the strengthening of earthquake-prone buildings in the CBD, and the wider district, in line with future Government requirements. The legislation involved is currently being considered by a Parliament select committee, and once it passes into law owners of commercial buildings which have been assessed as earthquake-prone will be required to bring them up to at least 34 percent of the earthquake resistance capability of a new building within a prescribed timeframe.
A collaborative working group comprising building owners’ representatives and Council staff has been formed to guide the third phase of the initiative, which aims to encourage owners to undertake detailed seismic assessments (DSAs) of potentially earthquake-prone buildings.
Working group member Garry Pellett says the detailed seismic assessments will provide reliable information about each building’s structural integrity and identify possible ways of strengthening buildings which do not achieve the required earthquake resistance standard. “The Council has offered to project manage the detailed seismic assessment process to achieve economies of scale for participating owners, so we will now be looking to get that process underway as soon as possible,” Mr Pellett says.
He says the working group will organise a workshop for owners and interested parties to present the ground study findings. Providing there is sufficient interest, the next step will be to seek proposals from potential engineering partners interested in undertaking the DSA process.