GWRC Rocks!

Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) Flood Protection officers delivered an order of huge river stones, 30 tonnes in total, into the heart of Wellington's CBD yesterday. The rocks, one weighing in at around 3 tonnes, will be used in the new Wellington Botanic Garden Children's Garden, currently under development.

"Greater Wellington Regional Council just rocks!” says David Sole, manager, Wellington Gardens. We need some very large, rounded, river stones as part of our rock trail and exploration feature. We looked to the GWRC Flood Protection team for help and advice and they delivered just what we needed when we needed it."

GWRC Flood Protection officers are well used to acting quickly to protect communities across the region. Their work can involve building temporary flood relief structures in a hurry, moving large quantities of river rock that might be creating flood issues and using a range of river management techniques to keep river water away from property and keeping it where people want to enjoy it.

"We were in a good position to help with the Children's Garden. The designers had quite specific rock requirements and while I wouldn't say the job was 'business as usual' - sourcing what they needed wasn't too difficult," says Jeff Evans, GWRC Flood Protection.

"We had some perfect material that came from Taumaranui after the 1998 floods - they were going cheap at the time! Natural river stone is smooth and perfect to be explored by little hands and feet. Quarried stone is broken with rougher edges, its fine for erosion control but this job needed something a bit different."

"Working through the logistics of getting the rocks to the site was more of a challenge. Even modern earth moving equipment has its limitations, the site is on a hillside and several of the rocks literally weigh a tonne!"

The Wellington Botanic Garden Children's Garden will open in 2017.

ENDS

For more information: 021 914-266 or comms@gw.govt.nz