The Great Million Dollar Government Experiment of Underground Earthquake Walls

Stacy Squires / Staff

An underground pilot dam was built at Riverside Lane in Spencerville, north of Christchurch.

A $ 1 million government trial to build an underground wall to protect against earthquakes ended with EQC spending $ 1.4 million to buy six Christchurch properties that the project was supposed to protect.

The 100-meter-high underground wall on the banks of the Styx River in Spencerville cost $ 906,000, took 19 months to build and involved driving compact gravel 10 meters into the ground.

Don Scott / Stave

It was believed that underground walls could protect homes located on the banks of the river, such as those along the Avonside Road.

The project was first designed as a way to repair and protect lands damaged after the September 4, 2010 earthquake.

The government planned to spend about $ 200 million building kilometers of underground walls around eight Christchurch suburbs to repair and fortify damaged land under about 3,300 properties.

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Once the February 2011 earthquake caused more damage to the land, the project was postponed in favor of dividing large areas of Christchurch in red.

Nevertheless, the Spencerville pilot project continued to go forward.

Daniel Tobin / stuff

Sirens, Rubble and Shock – Canterbury reacts to the September 2010 earthquake.

The site chosen for the experiment was at the back of Riverside Lane in Spencerville, where six properties were demolished after the September earthquake.

Construction began in April 2011 and construction of the underground wall was completed in November 2012.

Derek Parsons, a former resident of Riverside Lane, said the owners of the six sites cannot return to their properties and begin rebuilding until the wall is complete.

Joseph Johnson / Staff

There are no visible signs of the underground wall under the banks of the Styx River.

But even after the wall was completed, the six residents faced uncertainty about rebuilding plans.

Parsons said Christchurch City Council twice refused to approve rebuilding plans resources. He said the owners have agreed with the EQC that the land will be ready for rebuilding once the wall is complete.

He said, “They never did that.”

We wanted them to buy our department because I couldn’t build on it. If we cannot build, then the land will not be useful to us.

They would do our land, then they didn’t. They have backed off their word. “

Karise Mountain / Stuff

Spencerville and Brooklands were severely affected by earthquakes as evidenced by damaged manholes on Lower Styx Rd.

The EQC purchased the six properties for $ 1.4 million in July 2013 after five street residents contacted them about a potential settlement. EQC then quietly sold the six sites for $ 960,000 in 2017 and 2018 and new homes are now built on five of them.

An EQC spokeswoman said the land was purchased because planning changes made rebuilding plans more complex.

After the February 2011 earthquake, Christchurch City Council identified Riverside Lane in Spencerville as one of the areas with increased flood risk. Approval of new buildings requires raised floor levels to reduce flood risks.

Joseph Johnson / Staff

New homes are now built on Riverside Lane.

“Owners already planning to rebuild their properties to address the impacts of the Darfield earthquake were facing additional design issues related to the floods. The EQC recognized the precarious situation the owners were in, and agreed to purchase properties to enable the owners to have certainty and move forward.

They said the experiment continued after the February 2011 earthquake because the sites were vacant.

“Homes have been demolished, families displaced to makeshift housing, and there was confidence in the improvements in land stability.”

Don Scott / Stave

Locksley Street’s underground wall was planned to prevent the ground from slipping into the river.

Plans for the underground walls around eight Christchurch townships were in an advanced stage of development before the February earthquake derailed them.

The walls would have protected suburbs that were later designated in red such as Richmond, Avonside, Winoni, Dalington, Burwood, Avondale, Bexley and Caaboy.

Eleven walls have been proposed to connect the River Avon, along with one wall to separate Bexley from the adjacent wetlands and three at Kaiapoi. Project leaders estimated that some homeowners would have to live elsewhere for up to three years while the walls were being built.

A front page story in the press the day before the February earthquake stated that work on the underground walls was scheduled to begin around August 2011.

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