In 2004 BBR Contech completed a major repair and upgrade of the Hawera Water Tower for the South Taranaki District Council. On completion of this work the Council were able to re-open the tower to the public as the integrity of the structure was restored to the point that loose and deteriorated concrete was no longer a hazard.

Since that time, the Council has commissioned a number of reports on the condition of the tower, and in 2019 received a Temporary Protection Plan (produced by WSP) which outlined necessary upgrade requirements including additional concrete repairs and how these should be undertaken whilst preserving the heritage value of the structure.

The concrete repairs identified in the WSP report were included in a tender and in February 2020 BBR Contech was awarded the contract to undertake the small number of new repairs in order to continue to maintain this historic asset in the best possible condition.

The repairs comprised localised breakout and reinstatement with Sika repair mortars. Sika® Ferrogard® – 510 Patch sacrificial anodes were installed in the repair areas to extend the life of the newly repaired patches. Specific focus of the work methodology and QA records was to enable the works to comply with the heritage aspects as defined in the Temporary Protection Plan (TPP). BBR Contech’s comprehensive QA processes were followed during the project and allowed for collation of a QA report which assisted STDC in complying with the requirements of the TPP and Resource Consent conditions.

All work was carried out from the interior of the tower with some scaffold required to access some of the hard-to-reach locations. The work was completed in four weeks before being handed back to the local community to continue to enjoy the views from the top of this iconic structure.