The Government of St. Vincent has taken the bold decision to construct a new international airport that will allow the island to be serviced directly from North America and Europe.
NSG has secured the contract to supply all of their explosives needs and since the initial order in 2009, more than 300 tonnes of emulsions and detonators has been delivered to this prestigious project.
When open, the airport will be able to handle the largest jets currently servicing the region – the Boeing 747 and the Boeing 777 and this is expected to provide a huge boost to the local economy and more ready access to the Grenadines.
The timetable for completion is challenging and to achieve the objective of opening by the end of 2013 requires tight control of all aspects of construction is essential.
The project requires a new 10,000ft runway to be carved through rugged terrain and involves the blasting of many thousands of tonnes of hard basaltic rock. It was essential to identify a reliable source of supply for the Explosives. NSG was immediately able to respond and was on site within a few weeks of construction commencing. Technical experts were brought in to offer advice as to the best blasting patterns and materials to use and within a matter of weeks the first shipment was on site.
To address concerns with respect to storage of the explosives on site NSG was able to come up with an innovative solution and supply modified containers at significantly lower cost than more traditional structures. When additional technical expertise proved necessary we could also provide specialist in blasting technology who remained on site for several months.
To help raise standards in this region NSG has hosted several courses on blasting techniques and will continue to do so once the current economic conditions improve.
You can learn more about explosives in another section of our website.
2013
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