1. Home

    Air traffic Operations Safer at Grand Bahamas International Six Months After Employees Move into New Control Tower

    April 17, 2007
    Air Traffic operations now safer at Grand Bahamas Airport

    Source Press Release

    CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - Air traffic controllers at the Grand Bahamas International Airport have a lot to smile about these days, six months after moving into a new control tower complete with state-of-the-art communications equipment and hurricane-resistant viewing windows.

    The Freeport-based airport, one of the largest privately owned airports in the world, lost its original tower when Hurricane Frances pummeled Grand Bahama Island in 2004. controllers were left working out of a mobile trailer. AJT & Associates, Inc., an award-winning designer of aerospace and aviation facilities, was given the task of building the airport's new, $1 million - plus cab and outfitting the communications, weather and flight planning system suite.

    "The whole approach of the design was to make air traffic operation safe and user friendly so that the controllers would have easy access to all of their communication devices and unobstructed views of the air and ground. That's what we provided," said Bryan Brotheridge, project manager for AJT. "We've had comments that the controllers are very happy and very comfortable with the nw tower."

    AJT engineers have visited the tower twice in the last six months to install even more equipment. "The controllers have been real successful in using the communications system. We upgraded their radios to a higher power for a longer range. Also, we created a flight planning system for them and have been fitting that to their needs," Brotheridge added.

    Peter Deeks, AJT's senior vice president and director of engineering, said the installation of the four-position tower - complete with a three position radar control (TRACON), weather position and remote stations - entailed the company's designers working along side their craftsmen to fine-tune the details at its Cape Canaveral facilities. "The tower's cab was designed in an octagon shape to provide controllers with more visibility and less glare," he said. The cab, measuring 32 feet wide and 60 feet high with 480 feet of floor space, was constructed over three months at AJT's shop, complete with all interior fixtures and finishes. It then was split into two sections and transported overseas to the Bahamas. The sections were reassembled at the airport by AJT employees and placed on the tower shaft.

    The tower's communications center is equipped with 10 radios and 10 back up radios as well as weather recording and reporting instruments, has Florida offices in Cape Canaveral, Oldsmar and Miami as well as an office in Huntsville, Ala. The company serves an international customer base that includes government agencies, prime contractors, and high-profile commercial entities.

    For additional information, please visit www.ajt.com or contact Monica I. Teran, marketing director, at (321) 783-7989 ext 331 or [email protected].