Gavin Hartley presents Murray Discombe with a Certificate for “Best paper at conference” and the Lyn Jordan Memorial Trophy


The 2012 award for “best paper” was awarded to Murray Discombe

His paper entitled “Land Damage Assessment; Liquefaction and Lateral Spread” described the geotechnical reasons for the extensive damage to land and dwellings fromthe Canterbury earthquakes. Tonkin & Taylor are EQC’s engineers. They enlisted the support from numerous Consulting Engineers from New Zealandand and Australia to form a Land Damage Assessment Team (LDAT).

Murray, a Senior Technician with Fraser Thomas, counted himself privileged to work with the EQC’s LDAT to assess and observe first-hand the trials facing thousands of Christchurch residents.

The presentation’s many photos showed the often severe and extensive damage and devastation meted out during the earthquakes. Not only to land and dwellings but also roads, bridges and infrastructure. ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’