Preservation of current pool shell (Monday 25 March 2024)
Council has had aquatic engineering specialist, Lacus, inspect the pool in recent weeks in preparation for the repair works to be undertaken with the recent $5M State election funding commitments.
As part of this inspection, Council sought advice on whether the pool shell needed to be filled with water to protect its structural integrity.
The advice received is that the risk associated with an empty shell is that ground water may build up underneath, which could subsequently push the floor of the pool shell up (without the weight of the pool water to hold it down) and cause cracking.
However, rather than refill the pool, the advice from Lacus is to install a series of Hydrostatic Relief Valves on the floor of the pool. These valves will open if there is an excessive build up of water pressure underneath the pool shell whilst it is empty, to mitigate any risk of cracking.
The technical specification for the installation of the relief valves is currently being prepared, and the installation works will be undertaken ASAP, using Council funds.
The relief valves will also provide ongoing benefits for the pool, given it needs to stay empty during the planned repair works, and will be emptied each year for maintenance.
Preservation of current pool shell (Monday 8 April 2024)
As an update to the above announcement of the Mayor on 25 March 2024, Council advises that these core holes were drilled on Monday 8 April 2024, in accordance with the engineer’s specification. Now that these holes are drilled the risk of water pressure building up underneath the pool is mitigated. They hydrostatic relief values will be installed into the core holes in the coming months as part of the pool renovation project, which will allow the pool to be refilled following the renovations.