ENAE604 Structural Assessment and Retrofit Project 2026 S1 | UC

ENAE 604 Assessment and Retrofit Project Briefing

WEEK 1 - PROJECT OUTLINE The following information provides the basis to the course project. The project will extend over the full length of the course, with two staged components required as deliverables. This project aims to provide context to the learning objectives covered in class and through self-learning.The scope provided here can be considered as a starter, from which the minimum information needed is covered. The expectation is that through the course of project you will be in a position to identify areas for extending the brief through seeking clarification or confirmation of objectives, in much the same way as happens in-practice.

The Scenario

Following the Canterbury Earthquake sequence a Detailed Seismic Assessment was completed for the Law Building on campus. This was completed based on the typical approach at the time (2012) and identified a range of issues that needed remediating to lift the seismic performance of the structural element.With the release of the NZSEE Seismic Assessment Guidelines in 2017, the university is looking to review the seismic assessment, with a mind to then developing concept strengthening schemes that would be suitable for initial cost estimations.Over the coming weeks you will be working through an Initial Seismic Assessment and then components of a Detailed Seismic Assessment in order to gather sufficient understanding of the structure and some critical aspects of non-structural elements, such that strengthening schemes can be proposed.

Learning Outcomes

A student who successfully completes this course should be able to apply advanced structural
engineering principles and design methods to the professional practice of:

• Undertaking surveys to determine site and existing building conditions, based on the information needs of a design and/or structural assessment process.
• Identifying potential issues with neighbouring structures, and the mitigation of potential damage.
• Identifying failure mechanisms.
•  Performing seismic assessments and understand differences between ISA and DSA following NZSEE guidelines.
• Assessing the appropriateness of proposed retrofit strategies and materials for structures including durability performance.
• Integrating structural systems and elements with other building performance requirements
• Constructability, access, Safety-in-Design and connections or new and existing structure