2024 SESOC ESE x SEAONC YMF 'Structural Engineering Across the Pacific Ocean' Webinar

The Structural Engineering Society New Zealand (SESOC) Emerging Structural Engineers and Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC) Young Member Forum have joined together to bring you some exciting rapid-fire presentations on structural engineering from both New Zealand and Northern California. Expect many similarities (earthquakes) and differences (measurement units) across 5 presentations that focus on emerging/young engineers tackling complex projects.

Speaker 1 – Chloe Leach (SESOC ESE):
Presentation Abstract
The City Rail Link is the largest transport infrastructure project ever undertaken in New Zealand, with the Link Alliance engaged to design and build all station structures on Auckland’s $4.4billion underground metro extension project. This presentation will centre on the new Te Wai Horotiu Station, which consists of a four-storey building above the 20-metre-deep and 370-metre-long underground station, all being constructed under the Albert Street corridor of Auckland’s busy CBD.

Speaker 2 – Rahul Sharma (SEAONC YMF):
Presentation Abstract
Hohbach-Lewin, Inc provided structural engineering services for the Tikoo-Schantz Magnetic Shield Lab at Stanford University. Professor Tikoo-Schantz studies the remanent magnetism found in extraterrestrial planets and her work requires that her lab is shielded from the earth’s magnetic field as well as magnetic fields from the nearby built environment. To accomplish this, a three-layer magnetostatic shield had to be embedded in the walls and ceiling of the lab. Structural challenges associated with this project included using non-ferrous building materials, validating the lab’s lateral force resisting system for seismic loads to the building department and transporting the assemblage of the lab into the basement of the Mitchell Building at Stanford.

Speaker 3 – Jack Southee (SESOC ESE):
Presentation Abstract
A showcase of challenges and success stories through the structural construction monitoring of the redevelopment of The University of Auckland's heritage-listed Old Choral Hall (Building 104). Jack, who has been involved with the structural design team since construction started in late 2022, will be taking a look at the implementation of point cloud and photogrammetric scans to help respond to construction demands and assess a complicated existing structure.

Speaker 4 – Morgan McBain (SEAONC YMF):
Presentation Abstract
The social and economic impacts experienced by communities after recent earthquakes has re-emphasized the need for buildings which not only protect life safety and prevent collapse but also remain functional after an earthquake; low-damage structural systems can meet this need. As part of a multi-institution research program studying the impacts of low-damage structural systems, a six-story mass timber full-scale building including self-centering mass-ply-panel (MPP) walls and buckling-restrained boundary elements (BRB) was tested at the Large High- Performance Outdoor Shake Table at the University of California, San Diego. Instrumentation was strategically placed to measure global dynamic response, along with localized behavior of the walls, buckling-restrained boundary elements, and self-centering post-tensioning rods. Upon conclusion of the testing program, the building exhibited minimal damage and little to no residual drifts in the timber structural components under 23 ground motion records ranging from Service to Risk-targeted Maximum Considered Earthquake intensity levels, reducing the probability of demolition and repair and increasing re-occupancy and functional recovery after seismic events. Results highlight unique attributes of the building response, which will be used to inform refinement of numerical models and development of design procedures.

Speaker 5 – Cain Stratford (SESOC ESE):
Presentation Abstract
Tupuārangi Student Accommodation Building is a new eight-storey facility hosting 280+ beds within the University of Canterbury campus in Christchurch, New Zealand. The building comprises of three seismically separate structures that utilise a combination of steel moment-resisting frames and eccentrically braced frames founded on a grillage of ground beams and steel screw piles. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the proposed facility, before focusing on key aspects of the structural system and challenges encountered throughout the design process.