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Earthquake engineering expert to speak in city

Thursday 1 November 2012, 9:10PM

By Invercargill City Council

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INVERCARGILL

A noted consultant engineer, with expertise in the strengthening of old buildings, will speak in Invercargill on 12 November, Invercargill City Council Resource Management Officer Judith Christie said today.

Ms Christie said that future of heritage buildings in Southland was a topical issue, particularly since the Canterbury earthquakes.

This had prompted the Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council and New Zealand Historic Places Trust to join in bringing to Invercargill, Win Clark, who is a consultant structural engineer and Executive Officer for the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering.

Mr Clark will speak at Centrestage Theatre in Don Street, from 5.30pm to 7pm on Monday 12 November.  Entry to the lecture is free and members of the public are invited to attend.

“Win has over 40 years experience of the New Zealand design and construction industry.  He has been involved in design and construction monitoring of hospitals, school buildings, courts, and post offices.  He has also reviewed many historic buildings for strengthening, including the design and monitoring of the replacement piles and foundation substructure for the four storeyed historic government wooden building in Wellington.

“His particular areas of interest are seismic engineering and assessment/refit of masonry buildings, including heritage buildings and monuments.”

Ms Christie said that some of the questions Mr Clark would be answering were:  Why do masonry buildings fall in earthquakes?   What are the biggest issues for strengthening old buildings?  What techniques do we have to strengthen Southland’s old buildings?  Is strengthening affordable and viable?

The talk is open to anyone interested in the future of heritage buildings in Invercargill and the wider Southland area, she said.