Digger clears cathedral floor
Remote-operated diggers have cleared about 250 tonnes of debris, masonry, bird poo and heritage items from inside the Christ Church Cathedral ahead of restoration work.
The diggers, operated remotely from a small portable cabin in the cathedral grounds, have cleared all the debris one month ahead of schedule.
The operator watches the digger on screens fed by cameras on and around the machine and controls it with a panel of joysticks. It is believed to be the first time in the world a remoteoperated digger has been used in a heritage building with the operator unable to physically see the machine they are using.
Project director Keith Paterson said the diggers had allowed them to get three months ahead of schedule. ‘‘It has marked the start of the major interior clean up and is another milestone in the Cathedral’s reinstatement journey.’’
The material removed from the cathedral has been carefully sorted to retrieve any heritage items.
‘‘Our heritage professional has carefully sorted through the material and found various artefacts, including mosaic tiles from the intricate and ornate tessellated panels once found on the internal west wall, coins lost over time from peoples’ pockets and broken fragments of the stained-glass windows,’’ Paterson said.
The diggers were used because the building is too unsafe for people to enter, and disturbing the pigeon poo could make workers ill if they inhaled the dust.
A section of the roof at the centre of the historic cathedral is being removed and workers will soon be lowered in on a platform suspended from a crane, so they can safely remove stone gable arches inside the earthquakedamaged building.
Restoration of the earthquakedamaged Christ Church Cathedral is expected to be completed by 2027.