Car park to be propped up for arts festival

Temporary steel supports are to be placed under the roof of Auckland's Civic Car Park, to protect it from crowds expected in Aotea Square for AK05 events.

The Auckland City Council's acting finance director, Robert Nelson, said yesterday the supports were being installed because water had damaged the existing structure.

The car park lies beneath the sunken paved area and grassed portions of Aotea Square, but only the beams directly beneath the grass have been damaged.

The reinforcing will be in place for about two weeks and the number of parking spaces will be reduced from 960 to 830.

Mr Nelson said the parks put out of commission were "quite a small percentage" of the total spaces available. The work will cost $120,000.

Mr Nelson said the beams beneath the grassed area were already carrying half their maximum weight in soil.

Though water getting into the roof had weakened the structure, there was no chance of it collapsing under the weight of crowds, he said.

"As far as we are concerned, it is not going to collapse," he said.

"This whole thing has been done to make sure there is no damage to the car park roof.

"The structure was designed properly, but because the water has got in there, they can't carry the weight they were designed to."

Engineers are examining options for permanent repairs, and expect to report to the council in two to three months..

Options include the complete removal and reinstallation of the carpark roof, waterproofing the existing roof, replacing the roof with a new concrete beam construction or carrying out "isolated" repair work.

AK05 chief executive David Malacari said he supported the car park work.

"It's great to know that there is a long-term plan for the Civic Car Park so that Aotea Square can continue to be a setting for first-class public events like the Auckland Festival."