Strengthening work underway at Ōtaki Pool

Some earthquake-strengthening work has been taking place at the Ōtaki pool over the last two days.

Council is replacing bolts in the bracing structure and taking the solar panels off the roof to increase the building’s earthquake resilience. There has been no disruption to pool programmes or schedules.

The work was required after a seismic assessment being done for the upgrade of the pool next year found  part of the building didn’t meet requirements relating to earthquake strength.

Group Manager Community Services Tamsin Evans says once Council had the assessment it commissioned the work immediately.

“As part of the initial design work for the proposed upgrade the Council had a structural review of the building done and that identified twelve bolts in the bracing structure weren’t up to standard so we are replacing them with heavy-duty, high-strength steel ones. The solar panels are also being taken down to reduce weight on the building but will be replaced when the complex is upgraded,” she says.

“We felt we needed to act on this report as soon as we could because this is a community facility. We haven’t had to close the pool to do this work and users are unaware it was happening.”