Wednesday 6 April 2016

Extra work required to make New Regent Street buildings safe

The owner of five buildings on New Regent Street has advised Christchurch City Council that workers doing repairs have identified previously unknown issues that now need to be fixed.

This means that safety barriers will need to stay in place until the work is completed, Head of Operational Policy and Quality Improvement Robert Wright says.

"Until we have met with the owner and their engineers, we don't know the exact detail about what will be required to fix the issues or how long it will take. A meeting has been set up for this week to discuss this further.

"What we do know is that workers have identified that the facades are not reinforced in accordance with the original plan. The on-site team are liaising with the Auckland-based design engineers to find a suitable solution.

"The project team are already working to securely connect the columns to the top beam in another unit to provide a greater degree of structural support."

Mr Wright says it is unfortunate that this latest discovery means the anticipated resumption of tram trips along the street will not be able to happen yet, however public safety is the Council's primary concern.

"People are relying on us to make sure the street is safe, and we need to make sure the building owner does what is necessary to achieve that."

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