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Urgent work is being carried out at Tūranga after the discovery of an issue with one of the ground source heat pumps underneath the Cathedral Square building.
A water pipe that feeds into one of the heat pumps appears to have been leaking, which has caused an area of gravel underneath the building to wash away, creating a small void under Tūranga’s loading dock.
“As a precautionary approach we have had structural engineers and geotechnical experts inspect the site and they have advised there are no immediate concerns for Tūranga or any of the adjacent buildings,’’ says Christchurch City Council Head of Facilities, Property and Planning Bruce Rendall.
“Tūranga is structurally very strong – it’s been recognised internationally for its high level of seismic resilience. The engineers have assured us there are no safety issues from the continued public use of the building,’’ Mr Rendall says.
“However, it is important that we stop the pipe leaking and causing any further damage so we are going to be undertaking urgent maintenance work over the coming days.
“We have the construction company who built Tūranga back on site and they are overseeing the work required to pinpoint the leak, fix it and backfill the void under the loading dock,’’ Mr Rendall says.
“Tūranga will remain open while this work is done. Visitors to the library may notice some noise and vibration from the work as there will be some concrete cutting required, however, we are working with our contractor to keep the disruption to a minimum,’’ Mr Rendall says.