Anchored shotcrete retaining wall on a soil-nailed cut face

Geotech and structural. Under one roof.

Geotechnical and structural engineering across Christchurch and Canterbury. Reports, foundations, retaining walls, soil testing.

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Two engineers in one. No coordination gap.

Most projects need a geotechnical engineer and a structural engineer. Most clients end up managing the gap between them. We hold both disciplines in one practice. The ground investigation and the design that sits on it come from the same firm. One set of assumptions. One accountable engineer. One consent package.

We read the ground first.

Before a foundation is sized or a wall is designed, the ground is investigated and logged, layer by layer, down to the material that will actually take the load. Everything after that is arithmetic against what the log says. The profile below is indicative, not a specific site.

0.0mSurface and topsoil

3.0mShallow testing

15mDeep testing, CPT

BelowFounding layer

The two disciplines, in full.

Two disciplines and five services, with nothing implied and nothing left off. Open any service to see what the work involves, what it produces, and what a council does with it at the other end.

Geotechnical Engineering

Everything under the building, measured rather than assumed. The investigation and the classification, the report a consent stands on, and the foundations and retaining walls the ground then allows. One discipline carried from the first test hole to the producer statement.

Geotechnical Reports
The site investigated, classified, and written up as the geotechnical report your building consent stands on, carrying the founding recommendations the structural design then starts from.
Foundation Design
Foundations sized to the ground the investigation found, with the design features report and the producer statements the consent needs.
Retaining Wall Design
Retaining and slope stabilisation, from timber pole to concrete walls, with or without tiebacks.
Soil Testing
Hand augers, shear vane and Scala to 3.0m, cone penetrometer tests to 15m, classified and logged.

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Structural Engineering

What holds the building up, assessed and signed off. Existing structures read for earthquake and settlement damage, seismic strength measured against the standard, and the producer statement that lets a repair, an insurance claim or a purchase proceed.

Property Damage Assessment
Earthquake and settlement damage assessed and reported, for insurance, repair or pre-purchase.

Explore Structural Engineering

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Dark topsoil over pale rounded gravels, the boundary between them running across the frame

Logged in the field, layer by layer, before anything is designed

Chartered. Accountable.

Fifteen years of New Zealand ground, and the chartership behind every assessment.

Years in New Zealand

Geotechnical and structural practice

500+

Jobs completed

Residential and commercial sites

IntPE(NZ)

APEC Engineer

International recognition few New Zealand firms hold

Disciplines in house

Geotechnical and structural

CMEngNZ
CPEng
IntPE(NZ) / APEC Engineer
Engineering New Zealand chartered member
Member: NZGS, SESOC, NZSEE, NZTDS, NZGS IAEG
Registered Producer Statements Author, Auckland Council: PS1, PS2, PS4

Recent work.

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Retaining walls, foundations, earthworks and structure. Each one is a record of what the ground turned out to be and what it then allowed, which is the part of a project nobody gets to decide in advance.

Retained excavationGeotechnical and Structural
Reinforced subgradeGeotechnical
Piles through soft groundGeotechnical and Structural
Dwelling on a classified lotGeotechnical and Structural
Gabion wall on a cut slopeGeotechnical
Engineered fill platformGeotechnical

The local firm. No trade-off.

You should not have to choose between a name you recognise and an engineer who picks up the phone. The chartered sign-off is the same either way. What changes is the access. You work with the engineer who did the assessment, from the first site visit through to the producer statement, and a question about your site goes to the person who stood on it rather than to whoever is free that morning.

What clients say.

Akram is both a structural and geotechnical engineer, which is a huge advantage. Having expertise across both technical fields means you don't need to engage and coordinate two separate consultants...

Andrew Breward · Premium Homes

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Talk to an engineer about your site.

Send the plans and the address. You will get an engineer on the site, a straight read of what the ground will carry, and a scope for both halves of the job before anything is invoiced.

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