A verandah at a Mt Albert village restaurant was so riddled with rot that it was in danger of collapsing.
The verandah above the footpath outside Zheng Kee Restaurant was supported by just two stays running from the building, but their value was limited because the timber framing was so rotten.
Auckland Council told the landlord of the danger and support posts were quickly installed. But the structure will have to be pulled down and rebuilt.
JFC, the construction company handling the village upgrade project, has detected a number of verandahs probably needing repair work, though nothing as serious as the one at the restaurant.
Construction manager Neville Woolcock told Mt Albert Inc his company was required to report potential safety issues to the council, and staff had noticed a number of leaky verandahs, which was an indicator of problems.
None of them posed an immediate danger to public safety, though all would require attention from landlords in due course.
The Zheng Kee verandah (pictured) was in a different category, said Mr Woolcock. It was a potential danger to pedestrians and a risk to staff – and the company decided it could not begin the work on that segment until the issue was resolved.
The council stepped in and a traffic management plan will be in place today to allow builders employed by the landlord to remove the rotting timber and rusting sheet iron. That should be completed tomorrow or Thursday, allowing the footpath and channelling work (from the corner of Carrington Rd down towards ASB Bank) to begin by the end of the week.
The new verandah will probably not be built until the footpath work is completed in a month or so.
Bruce Morris
