The steel frame in front of the Christchurch Anglican cathedral will come down next month. Some rubble will also be removed.
Reinstatement project director Keith Paterson said he was pleased work on the cathedral was getting underway.
He said the building and frame – which are not connected – were a dramatic reminder of what the city went through during the Christchurch earthquakes.
It was important people saw the project was progressing.
Once the frame and rubble are removed, it would be possible to get a closer look at that part of the building.
This would help decide what needed to be done next.
Sections of a 90-tonne crane essential for the frame’s removal arrived on-site on Thursday.
Two cranes will be used to remove the rubble: one will have workers in a basket, while the other will use straps to carefully lift out pieces of rubble.
Paterson said some of the stonework was heritage material, so would need to be moved carefully before being documented and catalogued for the future.
He said the work signalled the end of the tidying up of the site, ready for the next stage to begin, although it was too early to put a realistic timeframe on how long the cathedral’s restoration would take.
Paterson is an engineer with more than 30 years’ experience. In November he was employed by Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Limited (CCRL) as the Project Director for the reinstatement of Christchurch Anglican Cathedral.
He has worked for Beca from 1986 until recently in a variety of roles both in New Zealand and offshore.
He oversaw the firm’s Canterbury rebuild projects and says the Cathedral project is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
CCRL is the charitable company set up to lead the reinstatement project.
Source
- stuff.co.nz
- scoop.co.nz
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