Streamlining Engineering Judgement in Emergency Scenarios

ENGEO have been assisting Wellington City Council (WCC) with private land assessments of geological hazards, mainly landslides. WCC have used our recommendations to assist in the difficult decision of issuing danger notices when home occupants are at risk.

This paper outlines the three-zone classification system we are using on these projects to assist with making engineering judgement decisions on-site. The Red Zone is for Restricted Access, Yellow Zone for Controlled Access and Green Zone for No Controls. This classification system lays out clear parameters to be put in place that allow, in most cases, for occupants to continue living in the properties in a restricted manner. This both minimises disruption to the lives of those living on the property and mitigates risk of life safety in potential future events.

ENGEO have also used a cloud-based application to set up a template for future assessment projects. The template allows for reporting to be created quickly once key site features and the zones have been classified. This streamlines several processes and allows for fast communication between engineer, council entities, homeowners and home occupants.

The discussed process allows for the engineering judgement and assessment of short-term danger to be brought to the forefront of the project. It assists in changing the mindset of the engineer away from the typical design approach and towards assessing immediate life safety risk.