Traffic will be blocked in preparation for the imminent demolition of an exclusive Christchurch apartment complex.
Engineers found the Terrace on the Park complex had major damage following December aftershocks and it was announced this month it needed to be demolished.
Demolition of the first two buildings will begin on Tuesday, with Park Terrace and Salisbury St closed to traffic from Monday, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) says.
The demolition of one of the buildings is considered extremely dangerous, so the building will be demolished from the top down from a considerable distance, with machinery parked on the far lane of Park Terrace.
There is a significant danger the building will collapse once demolition begins, CERA general manager of operations Warwick Isaacs says.
"This kind of collapse would be large, noisy and may appear uncontrolled," Mr Isaacs said.
"However, it would not be surprising as there is very little vertical strength remaining in the buildings."
Neighbours of the complex had been told they would have to leave their homes, he said.
The first two buildings would be down by the end of the week and they could return then, Mr Isaacs said.
All six buildings in the complex, built in 1999, will be demolished.
Meanwhile, the owners of Merivale Mall in Christchurch closed part of the mall containing 18 shops on Saturday after an engineering report found the area was earthquake prone.
CERA has asked about 8000 Christchurch building owners to do a detailed engineering examination of their buildings and submit a report over the next two months.
NZN