Earthquake strengthening specialist Dmytro Dizhur speaks in Whanganui

Dmytro Dizhur (left) and other engineers tested 35B Victoria Ave for earthquake strength in 2014. Photo / Bevan Conley

An earthquake engineer who tested Whanganui buildings during his studies is to return as a consultant and talk about new techniques of earthquake strengthening.

Dmytro Dizhur and others tried testing the brick building at 35B Victoria Ave to destruction in 2014, while he was working on his PhD at Auckland University. He is now the director of Dizhur Consulting and will speak at an event at Bayleys Whanganui, 158 Wicksteed St, at 7pm on Tuesday, October 29.

Dizhur's business specialises in brick heritage buildings. He is now the sole owner of the three-storey Johnstone & Co building next to Whanganui City Bridge and recently checked out the Sarjeant Gallery and buildings in Marton.

He's working on drawings and calculations about how to strengthen the Johnstone & Co building and get tenants into the upper storeys, probably using Heritage Equip funding.

One tool he might use is a special type of screw invented in New Zealand and sold by new business Python Fixings.

Screwed into a tiny hole drilled through timber and into bricks or concrete, it cuts into the materials and anchors them, with no glue needed. It's five times quicker than an alternative using iron rods and glue - an alternative that "is not holding up well" in retrofitted Christchurch buildings.

Other techniques he may talk about are tying layers of brickwork together to triple their stability, adding slender steel frames within window openings and applying new coatings by spraying or plastering.

Methods of earthquake strengthening continue to evolve, and get cheaper and easier, he said.

"The cost of retrofits doesn't have to be prohibitive. From a bird's eye view, it's not that gloomy."

Smaller towns like Whanganui need techniques the average builder can use, he said, which remove the need to import specialist contractors.

Whanganui councillor Helen Craig, who is a Whanganui Regional Heritage Trust trustee, will also speak at the event. She'll give a short slideshow about facade restorations and is planning more public meetings with information for building owners.

The talk will cost $10, with the money going to trust activities.