Special equipment brought in to test problem pavement

The footpath where a man slipped and broke his hip.

A specialist grip-testing machine will be used to test slippery pavement in central Whangarei.

Whangarei District Council (WDC) workers have arranged for special equipment to be transported from Auckland next week to test the pavement surface after a Whangarei man fell and broke his hip.

Using the results of the grip-test, council will decide what course of action to take - which includes the possibility of pulling up all of the pavers and laying less slippery ones.

The issue came to light when 66-year-old amputee Wayne Wheeler approached the Northern Advocate after slipping and falling on wet pavers on Rathbone St, breaking the top of his hip joint. He has only just recovered from major hip surgery after falling last December.

A question posted on the Northern Advocate Facebook page last week asking people if they'd slipped went viral, with over 26,000 views and 900 comments, most of which were saying people had slipped over - despite the WDC only having had four falls reported in the last six months.

Whangarei mayor Sheryl Mai has acknowledged the problem and directed staff to find a solution "even if that means replacing the tiles".

WDC waste and drainage manager Andrew Carvell said the results of the grip-test would determine the council's next course of action. "There's a product due to be reapplied [that was first done in 2011] that binds into the gaps and puts little nodules on the pavers.

"After that we'll try acid-edge wash, which dissolves part of the top of the pavers and makes them rough."

Mr Carvell said the cost of the binding product was paid for in full in 2011, so re-application would come at no cost to council. The acid-edge wash cost $20 per square metre, and the pavement covered around 5000 sq metres, so the cost of that would be about $100,000, he said.