The 2010 Darfield and 2011 Christchurch Earthquakes triggered extensive liquefaction-induced lateral spreading proximate to streams and rivers in the Christchurch area, causing significant damage to structures and lifelines. A case study in central Christchurch is presented and compares field observations with predicted displacements from the…
This paper presents insights from recent advanced laboratory testing of undisturbed and reconstituted specimens of Christchurch silty-sands. The purpose of the testing was to establish the cyclic strength of silty-sands from sites in the Central Business District (CBD), where liquefaction was observed in 4 September…
Liquefaction assessments are commonly undertaken by geotechnical engineers using a deterministic approach. This approach does not appropriately take into account the significant uncertainties associated with a liquefaction assessment and can potentially compound the conservatism that is introduced when selecting upper bound input parameters. Therefore, the…
Three different approaches for assessment of seismic performance of pile foundations (and soil-structure systems in general) are discussed in this paper. These approaches use different models, analysis procedures and are of vastly different complexity. All three methods are consistent with the performance-based design philosophy according…
