Apartments still waiting for assessment

SARAH YOUNG

Work has begun on cleaning out mud from the Waterfront apartments, as the building awaits an assessment by engineers.

The tenants of the 13 apartments were evacuated from the Wakefield Quay complex in the early hours of December 15 after torrents of mud poured down the hillside behind it and into the building.

Chairman of the body corporate, Tony Gowans, said nothing had been received in writing from EQC yet, and an engineer's report, expected earlier this month, had not yet been done.

"We still haven't got the report, nor have we got acceptance of EQC claim. We've initially gone ahead and got work under way, and hopefully EQC will pay for that."

Things were "ticking along", he said.

Contractors began clearing the sticky mud on Tuesday, using a small digger and shovels, which was quite a task, he said.

"As you can imagine, it's very hard working in a narrow stairwell."

It was hoped to have the stairwell and the corridors to the rear of the complex cleared some time next week, Mr Gowans said.

"This means people can get access in there if they require, and we can get assessors in to look at how bad some of the stuff is.

"We're also assessing how we're going to get rid of the pile of mud out the back."

Staff from Nelson Contracting were yesterday using chutes to pour wheelbarrow loads of mud, still wet, from the apartment verandahs to a large skip on the footpath below.

They had filled three bins by 11.30am, with plenty more to go.

Piles of dirt lay in the street outside the apartments and the former Port Nelson House Parts building next door.

Foreman Matt Wilson said one apartment was full of mud, up to about 500 millimetres at the back and 200mm at the front. The corridor and the stairwells were filled up, but the lift shaft was fine, he said.

"The majority of [the mud] came into the back terraces outside, where people accessed their apartments from.

"There's a huge amount from the bank still sitting against the building, which we'll start removing next Thursday."

The bank slid down and "scalloped into a bowl", and fell against the building, Mr Wilson said.

There was about 100 cubic metres of soil and clay to be removed, which would probably take another month.

The mud inside the apartment they were cleaning was still "saturated".

"It was like a waterfall that came down the back of the bank. And when the [bank] came down, all the rain kept coming in because the bank created a platform surface for it to keep coming in.

"It'll be a while before people are back in there."

- © Fairfax NZ News