Christ Church Cathedral restoration workers have become the first people to venture inside the collapsed building since the devastating 2011 earthquake.
Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Project site manager Gary Davidson and senior engineer Peter Carney venture inside the collapsed building. Photo: © Tom Cuthbert / Belmont
Site manager Gary Davidson and senior engineer Peter Carney went in through the northern side of the building yesterday to check for any safety concerns before contractors start work inside the nave.
Project director Keith Paterson said the men were inside for just 10 minutes in a carefully planned inspection of 10 limestone columns and other hard-to-reach parts of the cathedral.
"I think it was quite an experience for them. I think they felt quite a responsibility. They came out with a sense of achievement and a sense of relief," he said.
A photo taken inside the Christ Church Cathedral shows a piano covered in dust and debris, in Christchurch on 16 August 2022. Photo: © Tom Cuthbert / Belmont
No-one had been inside the church since urban search and rescue teams went in after the quake, although a remote-controlled robot and digger and drone footage had helped engineers understand the state of the building.
Some of the columns the men inspected were in a better condition than expected, Paterson said.
"They pivoted at their base, damaging some of the stone. They'll still work fine as a prop in the temporary stage of the project as long as they don't slip off their pedestals," he said.
''The next stage of this particular work related to making sure those columns do the job of propping up the roof of the cathedral effectively."
Eerie photos taken inside the cathedral showed a piano covered in dust and debris in the apse.
A photo taken inside the Christ Church Cathedral shows a piano covered in dust and debris. Photo: © Tom Cuthbert / Belmont
The installation of external steel supports had adequately mitigated the risk of collapse, with the stabilisation phase of the $154 million project about 90 percent complete, Paterson said.
Work to stabilise the nave columns and crossing roof would help bring the cathedral to 34 percent of the New Building Standard, so the church was no longer categorised as earthquake-prone.
The restoration project is due to be completed in 2027.