Five years on from the Christchurch earthquakes, the previously quake-damaged town of Kaiapoi in North Canterbury looks quite different as the ongoing rebuild sees new developments and improvements completed around the region.
“Kaiapoi suffered significant damage in the September 2010 and subsequent earthquakes,” says Daniel Thompson, Special Projects Manager for the Council. “So the Waimakariri District Council adopted a Town Centre Plan, with the framework to rebuild, redevelop and revitalise the Kaiapoi Town Centre.”
Work on the upgrade to the town centre would include new street lighting, reconstruction of the Hilton Street roundabout, a new road, plus kerb and footpath construction using Firth’s Commercial paving range, PaveWare™.
“We did consider the use of different pavers for the main street but, because we know Firth’s products well, we decided to stick with PaveWare™,” says Daniel. “We know the quality of the product and that it is hardwearing. We have used Firth’s PaveWare™ range before and we know exactly what we are getting.”
The revitalisation work was divided into stages with the first stages – completed in mid 2014 - including the reconstruction of the area north of the Williams Street Bridge and enhancement of the Williams Street Bridge. In 2015 work on Stage 3 began, which included upgrading the area between Raven Quay and the Railway Line.
“In Stage 3 we used Firth’s Forum® pavers (400 x 400 x 80mm) in Avon and Double Black Oxide,” explains Daniel. “The coloured paver bands in the footpath provide an attractive and durable product in a town centre environment.”
“Because of the desire to enhance the town centre, the footpath was specified as highly aesthetic,” adds Daniel. “We chose ‘Waimak’ - an exposed aggregate concrete finish - which was supplied by Canterbury Concrete (Firth) and installed by Arko, a sub-contractor, to contrast the two tone coloured pavers.”
“We are really happy with the overall result of the town centre,” said Daniel. “It's a major improvement and we are extremely pleased with the finished product.”
Project Details
Customer: Waimak District Council
Contactor: HEB Construction
Paving Contractor: Kriesel Contracting
Concrete placer: Arko Exterior Architecture
Location: Kaiapoi main street
Product: Firth PaveWare™
