$12m New World Kaiapoi ready to open

The doors will open on December 15, 2011 to the new $12m Kaiapoi New World supermarket. It replaces the previous building which was destroyed in the September 4 earthquake.

Leighs Construction was more than half way through a $6m upgrade on the premises at that time. A successful tender saw Leighs subsequently appointed to carry out the contract for the new supermarket and a team has been working hard on site for the past year.

Owner/operators Andrew and Jacqueline Palmer say they have been delighted to be working with Leighs Construction.

"They were just amazing when we were carrying out the extensions before the earthquake.

They went out of their way to ensure that our customers were not unduly inconvenienced at that time. They were just as devastated as we were by the damage caused by the earthquake."

Andrew Clucas, project manager for the new supermarket said before work could begin on the new $12m store substantial ground remediation had to take place.

"After the review of many options to complete what was to be the first ground remediation project post the September 4 earthquake, a stone column system was chosen. This consisted of the installation through low frequency vibro of 499 columns to a depth of 8m."

Work began on the new building exactly a year ago. The new supermarket is 2400 sq metres, and has 83 car parks. The new store features an espresso coffee counter at the entrance, a larger wine and beer area, a bigger, more customer friendly butchery, a larger fish and seafood area, and a bigger deli and cheese stand. There are 14 checkout lanes, including six self-scan lanes.