POINT BLANCHE:--- St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies (SMHG) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo is pleased to announce that the Causeway Swing Bridge left Hollandia Shipyard in the Netherlands on Friday for Sint Maarten, and will arrive early May.
The Swing Bridge is 220 feet long and weighs 450 tons. The Causeway has a total length of 2493 feet and features a two-lane motorway, a bicycle track and footpaths.
On April 17 the load out of the swing bridge from shipyard to the transport vessel took place. Other preparations for the voyage took place on April 18 for the cross-Atlantic voyage.
The Simpson Bay Lagoon Causeway falls under the Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation. The Lagoon Authority aims to ensure that Sint Maarten remains a top yachting destination in the Caribbean while ensuring a safe, secure, pollution free and environmentally sustainable Simpson Bay Lagoon. The Causeway is just one of several initiatives leading to the aforementioned.
Construction of the Causeway started early 2012 and is scheduled to be completed by December 2013. Construction is being carried out by Volker Stevin Construction Europe BV.
The Causeway will improve accessibility to Simpson Bay, the airport and Cole Bay. It will become even more important when the existing Simpson Bay Bridge is open or temporarily out of operation.
The new Causeway will have two round-a-bouts at the Airport Road near the end of the runway and at Union Road near the border. There will be two protected sidewalks for pedestrians and a bicycle track.
The swing bridge is the only element of the Causeway that had to be constructed in the Netherlands. There will be two navigating channels for boats to pass through simultaneously when the swing bridge is open. Large mega yachts will also be able to pass through.
The Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation, is a subsidiary of SMHG, and has an advisory role with respect to Simpson Bay and the Simpson Bay Lagoon.
