EARTHQUAKES AND ELECTIONS

Welcome to the latest edition of Concrete Structure Investigation’s fortnightly blog. The first update for November – and what a […]

November 3rd, 2020

Category: News

Welcome to the latest edition of Concrete Structure Investigation’s fortnightly blog. The first update for November – and what a significant first week it has been. With tragedies abroad (earthquakes in Turkey and Greece) and the political process playing out in the USA. We hope for the best possible outcomes in both situations

Structural Collapse in Turkey

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Our thoughts go out to the people of Turkey (and Greece) who have been hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on 30th October (overnight Friday our time).  The city of Izmir, in Turkey, was the worst hit.

What particularly took our attention, is that one of the buildings appeared to ‘pancake’ like the CTV building in Christchurch during the 2011 earthquake.

The force of the concrete pancaking would have obliterated everything in its path. Perhaps the columns were not designed and/or built to endure the torsional load? We understand this building was deemed unsafe up to a year ago and nothing was done about vacating the building.

The Turkish rescuers have managed to pull two people from the rubble so far – it is distressing to observe there may be very few more. We gamble against all odds that there are many more survivors to be found.

The US Presidential Election

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Another ‘headline’ piece this week, but hopefully not resulting in loss of human life: The US Presidential Election.  By the time this blog goes out, the US election will have taken place but the results will yet to be known. The below is an excerpt from the most recent leader’s debate; unlike the first debate which caused much consternation amongst the US population, this generated only a small ‘ripple’ …

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“Donald Trump repeated his claim that he has done more for black people than any other American president with the possible exception of Lincoln, the man who abolished slavery.

Joe Biden found that hard to take, and with a mouth full of sarcasm said: “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history.”

When asked to respond, Mr Trump looked confused: “He made a reference to Abraham Lincoln, where did that come in?” he said. He eventually clarified: “I didn’t say ‘I’m Abraham Lincoln,’ I said, ‘Not since Abraham Lincoln’.”

If there was a viral moment in this otherwise routine debate, this was it, as people found it hard to know whether Mr Trump took Mr Biden’s sarcasm literally.”

In one or a few short weeks we shall know the outcome. Until that much-awaited day, that’s it from us! We hope you’ve enjoyed the blog this week, see you same time same place in two weeks time. 

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