firm builds a “Hurricane House”

Trade Winds

With Tonga’s Isaac in mind, NZ firm builds a “Hurricane House”

A scientific test took place in Auckland recently which had much more to do with the tropic al Pacific than with temperate New Zealand.

With Tonga’s “Cyclone Isaac” disaster still fresh in mind it’s timely that an Auckland com pany, The Woodyard Ltd, should release the news of its cyclone

proof house design.

Dubbed the “Hurricane House” a small prototype of the design underwent destruction tests devised by consulting en gineer Brian Marino to stimulate the worst possible extremes of wind and earthquake forces. The tests, specifically on the wall structures, were conducted and supervised by the New Zealand Government’s Department of Scientific and Industrial Re search (DSIR) in consultation with the Building Research As sociation of New Zealand

(Branz).

Using a 23-tonne bulldozer, a hydraulic jack and steel bars reaching right through the struc ture to a massive laminated beam DSIR scientists and engineers subjected the house to repeated

and prolonged stresses increasing

by the tonne until the pull ex ceeded nine tonnes.

At this stage, when the

theoretical cyclone was blowing

330 kilometres an hour, the con crete floor and foundation began to lift. . . and with it the building itself, all intact.

Remarkably, there was no damage or outward sign of stress.

David Jonkers, managing di rector of The Woody ard, said he

(Right): The prototype “Hur ricane House” undergoes the 10-ton bulldozer test a heavy side loading to demonstrate the strength and stability of the structure. (Top): An established “Hurricane House” during tests in New Zealand to produce information for Pacific Island governments.

was thrilled with the result. As 240 kilometres an hour is more than the highest design wind velocity requirement by any au thority, the point had been well and truly made.

The concept of the “Hurricane House” was developed during company investigations into ways of building cheaper homes which were conducted by desig ner Fred Smith and consulting engineer Brian Marino. Fred Smith, a builder who since 1937 has worked in the USA, Aust ralia, Malaysia and Fiji, put for

ward the basic idea of a tough little house able to withstand cyclones, but with the essential ingredient of economy and low cost.

The design produced by Brian Marino added simplicity to the list of.benefits, and the prototype boasts an absence of special materials or excessive bracing.

In fact it’s a house with a lot more timber than usual. Ordinary treated standard grade radiata pine plywood and timbers are fastened with ordinary gal vanised nails. Its ability to with stand high loads relies on even distribution through many small fixings rather than a few large ones.

Thinking of the Tonga situa tion, where whole communities were left homeless, David Jonk ers spoke of pre-assembled panels in simple “Hurricane House” factory-packages able to be transported to remote areas where unskilled labour could erect permanent, cyclone-proof shelter in a matter of hours.

Under normal circumstances, a

Instant house: Seven hours in the construction of one of the “Hurricane Houses” designed for Pacific Island communities. (Left): It’s 8.30 a.m. and the foundations have been put down. (Second picture); One hour later, the floor is in posi tion and the first wall frame is going up. (Third): Another three hours and the walls and roof panels are in position. (Fourth): Soon after 3 p.m. and the basic structure is complete, ready for

fitting out.

practised team of four can put the house up in an hour and a half, which means substantial saving in labour costs.

Though the tested prototype was built on concrete, which is common in the Pacific, a new design for a bigger “Hurricane House’’ shows an alternative wooden sub-floor. The new plan is to be subjected to scrutiny and testing by BRANZ for a possible broader role as weekenders, mountain and tramping huts, transit housing, project accom modation, domestic housing, and in whatever other circumstances the low price tag has special appeal.

Further information on the “Hurricane House’’ and DSIR testing is available from David Jonkers, The Woodyard Ltd, PO Box 81-033, Whenuapai, Auck land, New Zealand, ’phone 4lb -8142.

A brewery for

Port-Vila

Vanuatu’s finance ministry has announced plans for a brewery costing 600 million vatu (SA6 million), which is to be establish ed in Port-Vila by 1983.

The project is a joint venture between the newly established company, Vanuatu Brewery Ltd, and Brauerei Haase, a Hamburg based brewer.

Production of beer was expect ed to commence in 1984, with a labor force of 70 people.

Watch factory

for Nukualofa

German-born watchmaker Jurgen Redtke is expected to open a watch factory in Nukualo fa, Tonga, in December in part nership with two local businessmen.

The company, Pacific Time Co, is expected to have an initial production of 8000 watches a year, rising to 48,000 by 1985.

It will employ 15 workers for a start, expanding the workforce to 25 after a year’s operations.

Satellite theme

for PTC ’B3

Satellites how they work and what we can do with them

will be Topic A at the Pacific Telecommunications Conference in Honolulu in January.

Conference director Richard J.

Barber reports that PTC ’B3 will begin with a workshop on Satel lite and Computer Communica tion. Its sessions, open to all attending the conference, will include reviews of satellite ser vices, technology, costs, and policy issues as well as discus sions of the satellite from the user’s perspective.

Also part of the conference will be a satellite round table, bringing together users, plan ners, and providers to talk about alternative ways to enhance the use of telecommunications in the Pacific through the use of both existing and planned satellites and associated terrestrial sys tems. Case studies from Japan

and Intelsat will also focus on satellite plans and usage.

PTC ’B3 will be held from January 16-19 at the Sheraton- Waikiki Hotel. For information and registration forms, contact Pacific Telecommunications Council, 1110 University Av enue, Honolulu, HI 96826, ’phone 941-3789.

INTELSAT VI, one of the new generation of communications satellites. At least five will be put into orbit in fixed positions relative to the earth’s surface, and another 11 could be launched. The Hawaii confer ence in January will discuss satellite development.

SPIA-Lan Chile

joint offer

Officials of South Pacific Island Airways (SPIA) and Lan Chile Airlines have announced that the two carriers have filed a new Circle Pacific Fare available for sale between Honolulu, New York and Miami.

The routing for this new fare includes stops in Papeete, Tahiti; Easter Island; Santiago; Chile; and Lima, Peru, en route to Miami or New York. SPIA will

provide the service between Honolulu and Tahiti, with the rest of the sectors being flown by Lan Chile.

Unlimited stopovers may be made in any of the cities along the route and the fares are valid for one year. Fares also may be combined with any domestic or inter-island fares within the USA or Canada.

While satellite services provide an increasingly flexible communi cations network for the more remote parts of the Pacific, work is now well advanced on the new ANZCAN undersea cable which will provide a trunk route linking Australia and Canada through Norfolk Island, Fiji and Hawaii. It will be a supplementary service to the satellite services and is due to go into service in late 1984, replacing an existing cable (PIM Mar. p5l). Picture shows Fiji-born Mohamed Iqbal (seated) working on one of the cable repeater units at the Australian factory of STC in Liverpool, New South Wales. He and his colleagues wear special clothing to prevent any contami nation entering the repeater. When the cable and its repeaters lie on the bed of the Pacific the workmanship and materials will have to be good enough to allow operation for at least 25 years without maintenance or repair.