Shocking photographs taken by construction workers at Nelson’s largest civic building show massive cracks in columns that are attached to the arches that hold up the roof of the Trafalgar Centre.
In December 2013, Nelson City Council voted to close the centre after it was deemed to be a risk to life in the event of a major earthquake. The decision upset many in the community, with its closure causing major problems to event organisers. Last year a plan was agreed to upgrade the centre with strengthening work and a new northern end.
Work started late last year and the centre has been open sporadically since April.
But what wasn’t known at the time the centre was closed was just how bad the hidden structural columns were.
Photos passed to Nelson Weekly show the reinforcing of one column exposed and another with a huge crack through it.
The columns are on the western side of the main hall.
A source familiar with the project told the Weekly that the damage was likely to have occurred in an earthquake but they couldn’t be sure.
“The columns are connected directly to the main arches of the main building. The indication from the cracked columns is that the building has moved in an earthquake and it has ripped the top of those columns off.”
Work was stopped in the area when the damage to the columns were discovered and engineers had to weld on steel plates to the existing structure.
Mayor Rachel Reese says the photos show that the council made the right call when it decided to strengthen it.
“These photos demonstrate why we closed it. That building needed work on it and it needed serious work. The building is now in great shape in terms of its strength. It could not be left how it was.”
She says she wasn’t shocked by the photos “because it matched with the advice that we had.”
The source says to see the reinforcing exposed was worrying.
“It would have taken a significant force to crack the column to that degree. The structure was put under significant stress.”
