Each day, millions of tonnes of rubble go by truck to Bottle Lake Forest in Christchurch. Demolition companies are working seven days a week to demolish buildings in the CBD after the earthquakes caused so much damage. Cranes, bulldozers, excavators, crushers and other machines are everywhere in the red zone of the CBD. And so too is dust.
The rubble is often sorted into steel, concrete, brick, glass and as much as possible is recycled. Some clean rubble goes to Lyttelton Port to reclaim land because the port was badly damaged during the earthquakes.
Demolition is a dangerous job and even more dangerous is dealing with asbestos. Asbestos was used in buildings 30 or 40 years ago but now we know that it can kill people.
Last week local Christchurch people living in the north east discovered that the Christchurch City Council wanted to dump 5,000 tonnes of asbestos pipes at Bottle Lake near their houses. Residents were angry so now the Council has changed its mind and the asbestos will go to the usual landfill site in North Canterbury where it will be buried.
Vocabulary
• demolition (n) demolish (v) pull down buildings
• rubble – concrete, bricks etc
• CBD – Central Business District
• reclaim – put rubble into the sea to make land
• landfill site –a huge deep pit where Christchurch rubbish goes. It is then covered with soil.
Questions
• Why was asbestos popular?
• How did it kill people?
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