Repairs underway on historic monuments

Repairs on several war memorials get underway this week, with the aim of having the work completed by Anzac Day, says Council Transport and Greenspace Unit Manager John Mackie.

After being partly dismantled almost a year ago, work is progressing on the Burwood War Memorial on New Brighton Road. The remaining steps and base will be removed and new steps will be cast and then the original granite memorial will be replaced. It will take a specialist conservator, stonemason and contractor four to five weeks to complete this work.

Final repairs are underway on the Heathcote War Memorial, with the small pieces that chipped off the memorial when it fell during the quakes being reattached. Repairs to the concrete surround of Pigeon Bay War Memorial are also getting going.

“It is immensely satisfying to see these treasured memorials and monuments being restored to their former glory and, while we have a way to go, we hope the community is heartened by this progress,” says John Mackie.

Meanwhile, plans to repair the Bridge of Remembrance and Triumphal Arch are progressing, with work expected to start in the middle of this year.

“The repair process is complex as the aim is to rebuild a stronger structure, better able to withstand any future earthquakes. We expect to complete the work by April 2015.”

Mr Mackie says the Council understands it is important the community can mark the 100-year anniversary of the beginning of World War 1 in August 2014.

"We will be working with contractors to see if it is possible to have parts of the bridge open in some form for an event."

Plans to repair the Arch involve inserting steel reinforcement into cavities inside the columns. The arches will be tied together (post-tensioned) horizontally to reinforce the structure. The foundations will be improved to allow the structure to rock in a controlled manner. Rocking will act like base isolation and dissipate energy created by any future earthquakes.

The stone work on both the Arch and the Bridge will be reinstated and repaired using methods sympathetic to the heritage nature of the structure.

Other repairs being planned in Christchurch include the waterfall at the historic Edmonds Factory Garden in Phillipstown, which is being dismantled and rebuilt after it was extensively cracked during the earthquakes. The waterfall’s channel is being cleared, relined and the stone capping replaced. Weather permitting, the repairs will start within a fortnight and are expected to take about four weeks.

Two marble statues from Cunningham House and Townend House in the Botanic Gardens have been taken offsite and had their heads reattached. The conservator is currently completing the finishing touches to remaining damage. The statues were previously located inside the currently closed glasshouses and their final location is still to be confirmed.

–ends –

© Scoop Media