By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

THE Nassau Cruise Port reached another major milestone yesterday with the commencement of its sheet-piling operations, which marks the start of the port’s marine construction.

The move follows the demolition of the former Bahamas Customs Warehouse and Festival Place at Prince George Wharf, which was described by officials earlier this month as “two very significant monumental events” on its own.

Speaking to reporters at the site yesterday, director of projects and facilities for Nassau Cruise Port Ltd Lionel Turnquest hailed the project’s progress, while revealing that more works are in the pipeline to facilitate the port’s transformation.

“Today, we are commencing the piling operations for the entire project so this will be the first set of piles going down. What you will see today is the first set of piles going down for the guides, the main piling operation and so there will be two piles going down instead of guides placed on top of it,” he said.

“And these will be used to set the rest of the piles in as they start the major piling operations.”

With construction at the port now in full swing, Mr Turnquest sought to address noise pollution concerns locals may have as it relates to the sheet-piling process.

“Today, they will not be using what we call the hammer. They will be using a vibratory hammer so it’s not as loud as what the normal hammer would be so it would be more of a rumble rather than a bang… It’s annoying rather than noisy I would say.

“But we find that that’s been working appropriately for this sort of operation and as we move into other parts of the operation, obviously different parts of the equipment will come out and we’ll use them as necessary.

“This operation will take us about half an hour to get these piles in as these are the guide piles and not the actual main sea pile walls and therefore, they don’t go as deep as the sheet pile wall.”

Asked yesterday about the possibility of downtown businesses feeling vibrations due to construction in the area, Mr Turnquest said it was possible.

“They could depending on what type of strain of rock we hit. Obviously again, in The Bahamas everyone knows we’re predominantly limestone. We do come across other strains of rock and you may start feeling a difference in the frequencies and then you start feeling vibrations.”

Last year, the Minnis administration signed a Heads of Agreement for a $250m project with Global Ports Holding to redevelop and manage the Nassau Cruise Port.

The project is designed to act as a catalyst for downtown Nassau’s revival once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. It is also expected to transform the cruise port experience for passengers and residents, and revitalise the waterfront for businesses and tourists.

The redevelopment will include improved retail facilities, the construction of a new terminal building, the creation of an event and entertainment area, and new food and beverage facilities.

It will also include a waterfront park, a harbour village, new inner harbour, amphitheatre and a Junkanoo museum.

Yesterday, Mr Turnquest said the project is less than ten percent complete, adding that officials are hoping to speed up major works in the months ahead.

“Well, the project is in its very early stages and we’re less than ten percent complete. It’s basically the demolition works, but we are moving expeditiously. We have procured all of our piles for all the marine works and all the tiebacks, etc, for them,” he noted.

“We’re already to put everything in place and the orders have been placed for the remainder of the pier’s furniture, including fenders and the like which will be arriving early next year so everything is in motion as we’re pressing and we continue to press.”

“What you will see over the coming months, the pace of the works will increase as we introduce more equipment and more teams and we hope to get up to three piling teams at the height of the works so we can get through this piling operation as quickly as possible.”