Auckland Council has issued a warrant to undertake the emergency partial demolition of the Probett Building at 3107 Great North Road, New Lynn.
The building was damaged during the recent flooding, and needs to be partially demolished.
A dangerous building notice was issued last week, and the owner has worked closely with the council to allow the demolition to proceed.
Work to proceed quickly and safely
The owner was initially planning to undertake the work, but the council wants to proceed more quickly to allow for work on the culvert to also progress safely.
Work on the site and the partial demolition will begin today (Wednesday 22 March), and start with the disconnection of utility services to the building, and protection of these services adjacent to the area.
Barry Potter, Director Infrastructure and Environmental Services, says the partial demolition will be undertaken by Ward Demolition with engineering advice provided by Tonkin + Taylor. Tonkin + Taylor is also providing engineering advice on the repair of the culvert.
“By having Auckland Council lead the partial demolition of the building, which is unstable, we can ensure the culvert is protected. The two projects will run in tandem so the remediation and public safety is ensured.
“The building also contains asbestos and Ward Demolition is licensed to undertake asbestos removal, and will take all of the necessary steps to remove it safely and minimise any risk,” says Mr Potter.
Accessing the culvert site
As well as the demolition, a track near the building is required to be cut through to allow machinery to access the culvert site, and several trees have been removed to allow this.
“We may also need to move some utility network infrastructure, and this may cause some minor disruptions,” says Mr Potter.
The upstream end of the culvert will start to be cleared on Thursday. We are moving quickly to clear the culvert as soon as possible, before the rain forecast for the coming weekend arrives.
Traffic management
It is possible that traffic management will be needed on Great North Road as demolition and work on the culvert progresses.
As part of the work to repair the culvert, water pumps may be used on site to pump out excess water, and manage the water levels if there is rain. A decision about using the pump will be made at the time.
If pumps are used, they will cross Great North Road and be covered by plates for vehicles to drive across.
