Grand Arcade NBS Remediation Works

This job is similar to a number of Seismic Strengthening projects we have completed in Wellington City Buildings. Problems requiring a bracket design change are common and a number of the brackets have been designed, site measured and fabricated with minimal lead time. Some brackets are turned around from design to installation within a week.

On this job, we installed some unique brackets with features that we haven’t seen before.

The brackets that secured the concrete tilt slab panels had a secondary safety feature. Should the primary fixings fail in a large seismic event, an attached steel cable stops the panels from falling out completely. This gives contractors time to either reattach the panels or lower them to the ground.

It is not uncommon to see innovative solutions like this used to resolve the type of problems that come up in seismic strengthening. This is the advantage of using people experienced in this type of work; they have on-site experience and know the range of potential solutions to the unique problems that are common when strengthening an existing structure.