Construction work on the Harington Street Transport Hub site has been paused until detailed design issues have been dealt with.
Tauranga City Council has hired independent structural consultant Holmes Consulting, to provide advice on how to address issues that they are concerned about.
Earlier this month, SunLive reported that during a concrete pour, one beam was observed to suffer from twisting.
'Following a meeting last week between council, Harrison Grierson and Holmes Consulting, it became clear that challenges with the detailed design on some components have not been dealt with to our expectation and it would be necessary to pause work on the Harington Street Transport Hub for a period of time,” says council's General Manager of Infrastructure, Nic Johansson.
The three parties are working together to resolve the issues as quickly as possible so construction can resume.
'Council is extremely committed to this user funded project as it is about building an asset for the community that will enhance parking capacity while also encouraging multi modal use,” says Johansson.
The implications for costs, and the responsibility for covering those costs, are yet to be determined.
The expected completion date has been pushed from early 2020 to mid-2020.
'We will provide an update once further information is available.”
In May 2019, council was informed by our structural designers, Harrison Grierson, of a recommended design change relating to the seismic joints used in the construction of the Harington Street Transport Hub.
Seismic joints are essential in absorbing the natural movement of buildings during seismic events such as earthquakes.
The design change to include additional seismic joints will allow different parts of the building to move independently of each other and changes the way loads move through the structure.
Construction began on the Harington Street Transport Hub in June 2018.
The building will include 250 spaces for people to park bicycles, 550 spaces for cars (including 15 mobility parking spaces), and 53 motorbikes. The building will also include electric charge points for cars and bikes.
The parking building is thought to be the first of its kind in New Zealand to include a dedicated bike area making biking easier for city commuters.
The bike hub will not only offer parking, but also includes showers and gear storage to make it easier for people who want to bike to the city centre.
5 comments
Question
Posted on 19-08-2019 17:05 | By The Sage
Does this mean the road will be opened for traffic until this lot is resolved?
Can we
Posted on 19-08-2019 17:47 | By Accountable
Can we have Hamilton and Harington streets opened for vehicular traffic? These streets should never have been closed. How many parking buildings have been built throughout the world? Millions and yet our Council staff can't get a simple construction job or for that matter any job right. I hope the new CEO is good at firing and hiring and if he's not he soon will be.
Bodgett & Scarpa
Posted on 20-08-2019 14:19 | By Slim Shady
Another successful episode for Ratepayers. Contracts signed that place all risk and cost on Ratepayers.
Truth
Posted on 20-08-2019 14:27 | By Told you
How come with all the parking buildings built in NZ that our one is designed wrong. Not good enough.
Accountability
Posted on 20-08-2019 16:48 | By Mal C
So who coughs up for the delays? The design engineering consultants, the engineers who did the initial design, the suppliers of the faulty beams? This simply should be made clear to ratepayers. Siesmic joints are nothing new, we had them in every building I was doing structural steel on in Wellington in the 1980's.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to make a comment.