Centreport Wellington

At 12.02 am on November 14, 2016, a 7.8 magnitude quake struck around 60 kilometres south-west of Kaikoura. The impact of this quake stretched as far as Wellington, damaging multiple buildings. Among these were four buildings at the Port, sitting on reclaimed land meant the buildings felt the full brunt of the quake. Leaving the former Rugby Union building, Shed 35, Shed 29/G&A and the MSC building on Ward Demolitions hit list for 2017. Shed 35 was a 1915 heritage-listed building that had been vacant for many years because of its earthquake prone status after the November shake dreams of restoration were crushed as the damage resulted in the structure being too dangerous, deconstruction was now essential. The demolition included the removal of an asbestos roof and salvaging of any historic pieces.

After the Demolition was complete the redevelopment included Ground resilience improvements throughout the port including installation of more than 1000 stone columns to prevent future quake damage.

Public Safety

With the site being so close to the Main Road (Jervois Quay) extra safety measures had to be implemented. 84 concrete blocks weighing a tonne each were brought in to hold the fencing in place, keeping the public out and small loose materials in. The Demolition was preformed with careful precision on days with low wind to no wind only to minimise risk.

Equipment

The advantage of having a large quantity of machinery is if we have a problem with one, we’ve always got a back up. This means we can stay on track and meet every deadline.

On this job we blew a hose, the team didn’t miss a beat and trucked in our second high reach first thing the following morning.

New Beginning

This job marked the first significant demolition of many to come for our Wellington devision, lead by Gerry O’kane. After many years of being mentored by Ward Demolitions owner/ founder Peter Ward, Gerry was eager to take Ward Demolition to New Zealand’s Capital and make a name for himself. The efficient, swift success of the Port allowed word to spread fast that the Ward Team were in town and they meant business.