The 14th November Kaikoura earthquake was a sequence of ruptures with a combined magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, and struck 15 kilometres north-east of Culverden, 95 km from Christchurch. Whilst the rupture started at the epicentre, the earthquake progressed northwards, travelling at a speed of 2 km per second, over a distance of…
The first joint New Zealand and Australian composite design standard DR AS/NZS 2327 has recently been published for public comment. The public comment period will continue until 24 January 2017 and electronic copies of the draft standard can be freely downloaded from here. This revision incorporates a number of technical and editorial changes, as follows: Changes…
HERA has been working with Dimond since 2014 on their new Hibond 80 deck product, with one of our work packages being the optimization of composite slabs using this deck in fire conditions. From the know-how developed previously in assisting a Singaporean client, through advanced finite element analyses our Finite Element Analyst Nandor Mago was able to demonstrate…
In February 2016, Australasian Certification Authority for Reinforcing and Structural Steels or ACRS asked industry and stakeholders to have their say on “The Future of ACRS.” Asking “What do you think of ACRS? What should ACRS be doing? Or not doing? What steel and related products should ACRS assess and certify, and how?” Initial responses…
The city of Christchurch will host the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) Congress in September 2020. The prestigious five-day event, to be held at the new Convention Centre, is expected to attract 550 delegates from around the world, with an estimated economic benefit of $1.2 million for Christchurch. The bid was put…
Vancouver will host the 39th IABSE Symposium on the exploration of topics related to structural engineering of buildings, bridges and other civil infrastructure. The Symposium will showcase the latest in technology and practice to enable engineers, researchers and public agencies to plan ahead. Sep142016 The Symposium organizers invite the world’s structural engineers to share their…
Our industry’s decision to harmonize bridge design with Australia has seen us travel a five year road, and we’re delighted to see it all come together as we announce the availability for public comment of the first joint New Zealand and Australian design standard for steel and composite bridges DR AS/NZS 5100.6. Chaired by our…
As members may have heard from Radio New Zealand’s interview of Stewart Askey on 19 August 2016 -concerns have again been raised on the quality of steel imports. Whilst the interview was largely on steel products used in reinforced concrete construction, comments were made in the closing remarks about sub-standard structural bolts. The Kathryn Ryan-led interview outlined in a…
Long gone are the barriers separating New Zealand and Australia from doing business together – and nothing showcases this more than our recent attendance at the Australian Steel Research Hub workshop where we were invited to share our expertise with industry leaders across Australasia. Aug52016 Not only was this a fantastic networking opportunity to identify…
The big breakaway happened – with a slim 48/52 vote in favour of exiting the European Union (EU). The positives and negatives of the decision have been covered in much detail since it was made – and it seems the immediate effects of the UK’s withdrawal have been limited when it comes to New Zealand.…
Started in 2014, in collaboration with our member company Opus, we’re pleased to confirm the draft NZ Transport Agency Research Report TAR 14/07 – Evaluation of Shear Connectors in Composite Bridges passed through public reviews this June and is now submitted with NZTA for publication. It’s the culmination of extensive research, historic data collection and preparation of…
A regular enquiry received by HERA has been the application of fatigue design in steel bridges. On one hand, some designers have had trouble interpreting the current design rules; whilst on the other, many fabricators have expressed concerns on more expensive butt welds being specified for fatigue details where this might not be entirely necessary.…