Queenstown structural engineers are working double-time in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquake to assess the future of Christchurch's threatened heritage buildings and help clients "get back on their feet".
Warwick Weber, of Gridline Ltd in Queenstown, is one of a group of structural engineers from the town who have been visiting the quake-ravaged city and is now involved in consultation with the Christchurch City Council over the future of the the unstable seven-storey Manchester Courts building, on the corner of Hereford and Manchester Sts in the city centre.
Built in 1906, Manchester Courts was given a red sticker, marking it as unstable and unsafe, and Mr Weber has the task of helping the council decide the fate of the unreinforced Edwardian structure.
"It's quite badly damaged with bad shear failures where there's been lateral loading. It's been cracked through brick columns and shear walls," Mr Weber said.
The building has a wide cordon perimeter and Mr Weber said demolition was a "definite possibility".
He said the council had passed a policy requiring earthquake-damaged buildings to be fixed and strengthened to a target of two-thirds of the current building code - similar to post-earthquake legislation enacted in the aftermath of Gisborne's magnitude-6.8 quake in 2007.
"It's quite a process. It's an expensive economic consideration to save some of these unreinforced masonry buildings," he said.
Structural engineers John Booth and John Trowsdale, from Holmes Consulting Group Queenstown, have also been involved in the effort as has Lewis Bradford's Tim Bradford.
Queenstown Lakes District Council emergency management officer Brenden Winder is involved in the ongoing management of the quake's aftermath and was appointed operations manager for Environment Canterbury.
He was seconded to Christchurch within 24 hours of the main, 7.1-magnitude quake and flew back to the city on Friday.
The council has also made offers of support to supply engineers and building inspectors.
