Aviation Commissioner Sarah Wescott Williams place the first pile in place paving the way for the construction of the wharf.
Airport president Drs. Eugene Holiday said that the project is "a critical step towards the realization of the required extension of the runway to allow for the introduction of the mandatory runway end safety areas."
The airport will put out a tender for the work on these safety-zones of 150 meters at each end of the runway within the next few months, Holiday explained. St. Maarten will be one of the few regional airports to meet this international aviation standard, the president added.
Contractor MNO Vervat managed to win the bid for the project, which consists of the demolition of the existing Simpson Bay fishermen's wharf, driving sheet [piles to construct bank protection, filling the area with excess sand and constructing the new jetty. ICE did the engineering of the project.
MNO Vervat managing director Jeroen Grootenhuis said that his company expects to complete the work within the four months it agreed upon, "and possibly quicker."
Once the construction of the new jetty is complete, in early August, work will start on "rerouting the existing airport road along the southern, eastern, and northern shorelines of the filled in land," Holiday said. The rerouting of the road creates the space for the runway end safety areas.
Commissioner Wescot-Williams said that the safety-zones are important, because by creating them, the airport will meet international standards.