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Marlborough gravelly soil could provide a new understanding of liquefaction

Led by a University of Canterbury engineer, researchers are drilling deep into Marlborough land to gain new understanding of liquefaction in gravelly soils, and the impact of their findings will reach beyond our shores.

UC Engineering academic Dr Gabriele Chiaro and his team started drilling near Lansdowne Park in Blenheim on Monday to research liquefaction in gravel.

University of Canterbury (UC) Engineering Senior Lecturer in Civil and Natural Resources Engineering and QuakeCore researcher, Dr Gabriele Chiaro will focus on the liquefaction in Blenheim to deliver results that will be of international significance and says the work is crucial to help decision-makers.

“Wellington’s waterfront is on gravelly reclaimed land which liquefied with severe consequences for the port infrastructures. We also had liquefaction in gravelly natural soil deposits in Blenheim, though in this case the extent of damage caused to land and structures was fortunately less severe. We need to better understand why this particular type of soil may also liquefy during strong earthquakes and what can be done to strengthen it so councils, planners and developers can make better-informed decisions about building on this type of land,” he says.

Dr Chiaro says that the effects of liquefaction in gravelly and sandy soils are the same. 

“When a soil liquefies under earthquake shaking, it behaves more similarly to a liquid than a soil, causing buildings to tilt and sink, underground water and sewerage pipes to deform and burst, and sloping ground to move laterally and spread towards rivers and lakes.”

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