Council committee votes to demolish Wellington’s City to Sea Bridge
Poneke Wellington’s City to Sea bridge designed by Rewi Thompson and John Gray with sculptor Para Matchitt. Image credits: Left: Michael Coghlan CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons; right: Andos_pics via Flickr.
The Wellington City Council’s Kōrau Tūāpapa Environment and Infrastructure Committee voted yesterday to replace the quake-prone Capital E building and the City to Sea Bridge, which connects the capital’s waterfront and Civic Square. The bridge will be replaced with a pedestrian crossing to cross the six-lane Jervois Quay, and a new bridge will be considered for funding by the Council in a future Long-Term Plan.
An amendment from Councillor Iona Pannett to delay the decision to give staff time to gather more information and develop a “cost effective solution” to strengthen the bridge was defeated by 10 votes to eight.
The debate reportedly did not consider advice received from engineers Dunning Thornton, noting that the bridge “is not subject to the earthquake prone provisions in the Building Act, hence there is no legal requirement to seismically strengthen it.” Dunning Thornton also said the safety risk for people on the bridge could be considered lower than in a building.
The Council said the former Capital E building has a seismic rating of 20% NBS and “the bridge is also at risk in a major earthquake and presents a safety and access risk to Jervois Quay – a major arterial road – if it was to collapse or be compromised in an earthquake.”
The Council says the cost to fully strengthen the bridge and Capital E was at least $85 million and partial strengthening was at least $53.3 million. These options were deemed unaffordable by elected members given the financial constraints the city is under.
Kōrau Tūāpapa Environment and Infrastructure Committee Chair Tim Brown said that the decision made was the correct one: “The decision ensures public safety and is financially responsible. It was based on comprehensive expert work presented to Council by seven engineering companies.”
Council Chief Operating Officer James Roberts said that yesterday’s decision means the long-awaited return of Te Ngākau Civic Square won’t be delayed: “We understand the range of views in the community about the bridge, but making progress on this key part of Te Ngākau takes us closer to our ultimate goal of returning the heart of the city to the people of Wellington.”
The Council says it is working with the families and representatives of the artists to explore options around finding a new home for the bridge artwork.
The planning phase of the bridge demolition and construction of the new pedestrian crossing will begin soon.
