The remarkable earthquake isolation system at Wellington's Parliament House
To make sure Parliament House and the Parliamentary Library are able to withstand an earthquake of up to 7.5 on the Richter Scale, a special engineering system of base isolation was used in their foundations during the strengthening and refurbishment project of 1992-1995. Most masonry buildings constructed prior to the Napier earthquake in 1931 were built with minimal lateral resistance. They are considered to be brittle structures, which are likely to collapse in a moderate earthquake. These parliamentary buildings came within this category. The original building foundations of Parliament House were laid in 1912 and consisted of a mix of gravel and cement. The Parliamentary Library consisted of two wings of a similar construction built in two phases, 1883 and 1899. By the 1980s, the foundations of both buildings were showing signs of deterioration and with the Wellington Fault within 400m of the parliamentary site, there was concern as to the likely impact of an earthquake on these...
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