Holmes Consulting Group features on German television program

21/03/2011

This month, Holmes Consulting Group appeared on a segment of the popular German science program [W] wie Wissen.  The segment focused on the base isolation techniques used at Te Papa Tongarewa and the New Zealand Parliament buildings. The base isolation for those buildings was provided by Robinson Seismic of Wellington, and Holmes Consulting Group provided the specialist engineering expertise.

Base isolation is a successful strategy for protecting against damage and loss of life in an earthquake. Lead rubber bearings "isolate" the ground from the structure and reduce the intensity of the shaking.

In addition to the two public buildings Holmes Consulting Group worked on, the segment also features a stretch of highway and a carpark, both of which are base isolated.

The segment, which runs to 5.09  can be viewed in its entirety on the Mediathek website. 

More about the history of base isolation can be found at the website for Robinson Seismic.