Mayor demands path fix

Auckland City Mayor John Banks says contractor John Fillmore "needs to get off his backside" and repair a cracked footpath at Apirana Ave in Glen Innes if bad workmanship is found to be the cause.

Mr Banks says he will also be asking John Fillmore Contractors to pay back the council's half share of a $36,847 bill to repair a cracked footpath at Mountain Rd in Epsom if bad workmanship is the cause.

"I have never seen such extensive cracking in one length of footpath," Mr Banks said after visiting Apirana Ave.

"In the interests of good will I would have expected the contractor to replace that footpath, given the magnitude of the contract and the truckload of money being paid to that business."

Mr Banks' stand follows revelations in the Herald that ratepayers paid $18,400 to help fix Mountain Rd while Apirana Ave had not been repaired.

The council discovered "substantial cracking" soon after the footpaths were laid in late 2005 and early 2006.

Two reports by Beca Infrastructure said the cracking was probably caused by late cutting or pouring.

It took until July last year for Mountain Rd to be repaired.

Transport general manager Don Munro said there were no plans to repair the cracked slabs in Apirana Ave unless the footpath became a pedestrian hazard.

"It needs to be replaced, and will be replaced," Mr Banks said yesterday.

He said officers told him the reason the council went 50/50 on repair costs for Mountain Rd was that the contractor got its own report, which disagreed with the Beca reports.

The report, by concrete supplier Holcim, said the cracks were consistent with plastic shrinkage cracking, relatively common in concrete.

The probable cause for the shrinkage was excessive evaporation from the surface on what in the industry were considered large panels of about 5sq m. The likelihood of shrinkage cracking increased in panels beyond 3sq m to 4sq m, the report said.

Last night, Mr Fillmore, who has won more than $100 million worth of footpath contracts since 2004, said plastic shrinkage cracking was a phenomenon of concrete.

He said every precaution was taken and the cracks had nothing to do with late saw cutting or late pouring.