In this issue we have contributions from practitioners who see a need for improvement in how some things are done. They are seeking to raise our awareness of limitations in everyday practices. They are not alone. The following quote is from Jackie Stewart, whom some…
Feed the world In our last issue we featured an article outlining current research into sea level rise and its likely effects in New Zealand and another offering ideas for reuse of old unwanted tyres. While our interest as engineers is focussed on the fun…
Turning issues into opportunities in the New Zealand context Abstract End-of-life tyres (ELTs) are non-reusable tyres in their original form. They enter a waste management system based on product/material recycling and energy recovery or go to disposal. In New Zealand, only 30% of the 5…
Variety is the spice of life In the changes that have been forced upon us all by COVID-19 we see inspiration in innovation all around us – on line shopping, click-and-collect, businesses refocussing – as well as the adverse effects such as loss of jobs,…
Times they are a’changing “Nothing stays the same!”. In this issue we see a farewell message from the current Chair, Tony Fairclough, whom we will definitely miss, and sadly a withdrawal from all geotechnical duties by Gavin Alexander, another long-serving NZGS Committee member. And Stuart…
On 14 November 2016, the M7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake severely damaged the North Canterbury region, closing both State Highway 1 (SH1) and the Main North Rail Line between Picton and Christchurch. Many of our members were actively involved in assessing the infrastructure damage caused by the…
Abstract The earthquakes that hit the region of Canterbury, New Zealand, in 2010-2011 resulted in severe damage to buildings and infrastructure due to widespread liquefaction of natural clean sand and silty sand deposits of fluvial origin. Despite the significant hazard posed by earthquake-induced liquefaction to…
Gravelly soil (i.e. gravelly sands, sandy gravels, and uniform gravels) is generally recognized to have no or very low liquefaction potential. However, historically few case histories exist where observations of liquefied gravelly soils have been made, e.g. 1983 Borah Peak, Idaho earthquake (Youd et al….
This paper presents a simplified procedure for predicting earthquake-induced level and sloped ground failure, namely liquefaction and shear failure. It consists of a framework where cyclic stress ratio (CSR), static stress ratio (SSR) and undrained shear strength (USS) are formulated considering simple shear conditions, which…
