High voltage learning during the Christchurch earthquakes

Tuesday 1 st February Before quakes and demolition         After demolition Today we were working at the demolition site of Manchester Courts on the corner of Manchester and Hereford Streets. This was considered to be one of the iconic casualty sites of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake of September 4 2010. This building was also the first 'skyscraper' in the Southern Hemisphere, being of brick construction and 10 storeys tall. The building was demolished due to concerns about its structural integrity. During demolition, an electrical kiosk was damaged, and the decision was made to move the kiosk location and replace it with a new one. Traffic lights and street lights were damaged also. I was working today with Ivor, Reece, Jeff and Jamie. Connetics, being owned by Orion (Christchurch's electricity network owner) and having a staff complement of 250, has specialist digging crews and machinery. This is extremely useful as the cable jointing crews can concentr...