Date: February 2021

Client: Bay of Plenty Regional Council

Engineer: Beca

The Kope Flood Gates are an integral part of the Whakatane River Flood Protection Scheme.

Situated in the estuarine part of the lower Whakatane River, the reinforced concrete structure suffered severe chloride-initiated reinforcing bar corrosion in several critical structural elements.

In conjunction with Beca, Contech proposed a remedial solution to repair these deteriorated elements using a rebuild strategy to extend the service life.
Hydro-demolition has removed the chloride-contaminated concrete. Bay of Plenty Regional Council environmental control requirements were met by undertaking complete cloth encapsulation of the work area to prevent concrete waste from entering the canal.

New supplementary reinforcing bars were installed, and the elements were cast back to original profiles using a self-compacting ready-mix concrete.