Mix'd Cocktail Bar Alterations

4 Hardinge Road is a waterfront hospitality venue in Ahuriri, Napier, home to the MIX'D cocktail bar, that underwent structural alterations and additions, including a new kitchen, bar and outdoor deck areas. LDE was engaged to provide geotechnical construction monitoring and ground condition verification for the new foundations, fourteen portal frame pads, a series of ring-beam and strip footings, and three piles, confirming the ground could support the structural design requirements.

Over eleven inspections between February and June 2024, our geotechnical team tested and verified each new footing, pad and pile against the specified geotechnical ultimate bearing capacity of 210kPa. The site's fill history meant conditions varied from one footing to the next, so our team worked methodically across the site, checking ground conditions at each location as construction progressed.

Where testing identified pockets of softer or looser material, we worked alongside the contractor, Simkin Construction Ltd, to adjust and re-test, deepening excavations or re-compacting fill where needed, until every location met the design bearing capacity. Engineered fill placed beneath the slab and along the seaside strip footing was also confirmed to specification.

By the close of monitoring, every foundation on site had been confirmed to meet the required bearing capacity and minimum dimensions, giving the client and the certifying structural engineer the assurance needed to close out the building consent. A great demonstration of how targeted, footing-by-footing testing manages variable ground conditions on waterfront sites.