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Installation of bollards at Tinian Harbor begins
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Posted on Jun 25 2012
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Reporter
Tinian airport manager Joseph Mendiola disclosed Friday that the Commonwealth Ports Authority has received the shipment of new bollards for its Tinian Harbor project and the installation work kicked off this month.
Describing the project as “on track,” Mendiola projects the full completion of the emergency repair by August this year. He said the unpredictable weather is the only factor that may delay the installation and other work on the project.
The poor condition of the Tinian harbor was discovered in July last year when CPA found that it was about to collapse, posing a great danger to harbor users and the possible negative impact it would have on the operation of the port facility on island. The municipal government issued an emergency declaration, allowing it to reprogram money to fund the emergency repair.
Mendiola told Saipan Tribune yesterday that six new bollards need to be installed to ensure that the harbor will be capable of accommodating bigger shipments such as fuel tankers. These six bollards were procured using capital improvement project funds for Tinian.
A bollard is a short, thick post on the deck of a ship or on a wharf to which a ship’s rope may be secured.
Since the emergency repair is not yet complete, Mendiola said the situation remains the same in terms of Mobil Oil’s hampered ability to send in its fuel tanker to the island. He said the oil company is presently doing minimal shipments based on the capability of the existing bollards.
The harbor’s emergency repair had an initial $500,000 budget sourced from the aborted instrument landing system project, which at that time had $3.2 million in CIP funds. Since the cancellation of the ILS project, these monies were moved to other Tinian projects, of which $500,000 was allocated for the harbor. Mendiola said this amount includes the design, assessment, installation of four new bollards, and removal of the harbor fender. The total cost of the emergency project is estimated at $700,000 after considering some supplemental funding requests.
