Steep cost to make water tower safe

The tower was closed after the 2011 Christchurch quake. Photo: ODT files
The tower was closed after the 2011 Christchurch quake. Photo: ODT files

The cost of making Invercargill's iconic water tower earthquake safe could be as high as $1.3 million, a report by the city's water manager reveals.

The report by Allister Murray, set to be presented to the Invercargill City Council on Monday, shows that the council has two options of strengthening the landmark to 34% of the legislative requirements or 67% of the legislative requirements.

If the city opts for the latter option, then it would cost $1,311,000 and if it chooses the former, this would cost $775,000.

The tower was closed in the wake of the devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake and concerns over public injury should an quake hit Southland.

Any plans of strengthening it were put on hold until the Building Act was amended in 2017, making it clear what the minimum earthquake strengthening requirement were for buildings.

Mr Murray's report states that if the city opts for the 67% option, it could look at possibly operating the tower as a tourist site.

However, citing a Venture Southland evaluation, the report makes it clear that this would not necessarily be profitable.

The report states that: "Whilst strengthening to the legislative minimum of 34% is permissible, the risk of collapse is assessed as five times greater than that strengthened to 67%."

giordano.stolley@odt.co.nz

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