Hundertwasser project building deconstruction pauses to address asbestos

Work continues to deconstruct the Old Harbour Board Building. Photo/John Stone

Deconstruction work on the Old Harbour Board building for the Hundertwasser project in central Whangārei has picked back up after stopping to focus on asbestos.

Project spokesman Greg Hay said work had stopped last week while the asbestos removal plan was reviewed.

He said the contractors always had the knowledge there was asbestos in the building, but it was a case of working out the best way to deal with it once they had reached it.

"They didn't quite know what they were dealing with until they got to it."

He said the asbestos was in the bricks below the ground of the Old Harbour Board Building.

Hay said the decision was made to stop the machinery and take things out by hand.

He said there was around 50 cubic metres of bricks with asbestos.

Hay said extra safety precautions were taken, including extra spraying and monitoring, and the bricks concerned were packaged up and taken away according to regulations.

The deconstruction process is in full swing, with uncontaminated bricks from above ground being taken to the recycling centre at the Old Army Hall where a team of volunteers are chipping off the mortar.

John Park chips away at a large pile of bricks from the Old Harbour Board building outside the Old Army Hall on Walton St. Photo/John Stone

A rough estimate of 15,000 bricks will be reused as part of the Hundertwasser building on the same site.

Hay said people can expect to see activity to pick back up at the site this week.