Sandblasting 'great solution'

The offending pavers in Whangarei CBD.

An amputee who broke his femur slipping on pavers in Whangarei's CBD is slamming council's move to sandblast rather than replace them.

Wayne Wheeler, 66, snapped the ball off the top of his left hip after slipping and falling on wet pavers in Rathbone St a year ago.

A story in the Northern Advocate about Mr Wheeler - who wears a prosthetic right leg after a hunting accident 30 years ago - prompted Whangarei District Council (WDC) to look for ways to reduce the slipperiness of the pavers in the CBD, opting for etching in May this year.

But etching only worked for a short time, and now council has issued a tender for contractors to sand blast the pavers - expected to cost between $250,000 and $300,000. The cost of replacing the pavers is estimated at $1.25million.

"While the acid etching showed good results after application, re-testing has shown a rapid decline in the friction factor, even after the etching was re-done at the supplier's cost," WDC road maintenance engineer Michael Batchelor said.

Mr Wheeler believes the only way to sort the problem once and for all is to replace the pavers.

"Don't waste any more money. Do the job properly. Do it once."

The former army officer and greenstone carver has spent the last year on ACC , suffering from significant pain and depression.

"This fall has put me back 20 years. I struggle driving. I'm not sleeping. My life has been on hold for the past 12 months."

He believes sand blasting the pavers will not work, as it could create holes in the bricks that algae and dirt could become trapped in, make the pavers slippery once again.

But at Wednesday's infrastructure committee WDC group manager infrastructure services Simon Weston said a coating would be applied to prevent that from happening.

"This is a coating that impregnates the block itself to eliminate grime, getting into the pores of the block. The coating may have to be replaced after a number of years, but we are anticipating it's going to give the blocks a new lease on life. This is the last port of call to get friction from our blocks, before we replace them."

Whangarei mayor Sheryl Mai said at the meeting that it was "totally unacceptable" that she had received a phone call that a woman had dropped her baby on the pavers, and that sand blasting was a "great solution".

"It's certainly cheaper than replacing the pavers."