Scaffolding fear in central Chch

Press, 5 March 1988, Page 2

Scaffolding fear in central Chch

By

NEIL CLARKSON

Fears were held for the stability of about 70 tonnes of scaffolding in Lichfield Street yesterday after Municipal Electricity Department workers accidentally undermined its foundations.

Lichfield Street was reduced to a single lane for about three hours while construction workers used props to support and strengthen the sevenstorey structure. The scaffolding is in place alongside an extension being added to the Lichfield Street car-park building. The extension is being built by Fletcher Development and Construction. "It was only a matter of another hour's digging and it all would have been over,” said the site forman, Mr Dennis Doody. He said M.E.D. workers had undermined the main supports of the gantry. Unbeknown to Mr Doody, the electricity

workers arrived about 9 i a.m. and began digging a i trench alongside the main 1 scaffolding supports. “I never looked over ; the side until midday,” he said. 1 He went down to ques- ! tion them and discovered that the beginnings of i their trench had caused three supports at the west- i ern end of the scaffolding i to move. The outermost steel beam had sunk about : 25mm and moved away from the concrete kerb it had earlier; been sitting flush alongside. Mr Doody said he told them to stop and called the Labour Department. The movement in the scaffolding I would have put severe strain on the

metal ties holding the scaffolding together, said Mr Doody. ! “If one breaks lit starts a chain reaction,”(he said. ! The scaffolding could have fallen across the street. Accrow props and 6 inch by 4 inch ( timbers were used to strengthen the scaffolding, which is due to come down early next week. Mr Doody said he was surprised the M.E.D. staff began work without consulting him. He said his Tecords showed they were not due to start work until March 22, by which time the scaffolding would have gone. The car-park extension iis due to be finished in j about four weeks.