Six-ton bulkhead installed in national pool

The National Aquatics Centre moved one step closer to being completed when a six-ton bulkhead was installed in the pool Saturday morning.

The movable bulkhead will allow the 50-metre pool to be shortened to three distances: 30 metres, 25 metres or 20 metres.

Bernie Asbell, interim CEO of the Bermuda National Sports Centre, said moving the bulkhead in place “is the start of the completion of the pool. We’ll be filling the pool on a very slow fill at the end of March, beginning of April.”

He said after that the electricity test will run in the middle to end of April to ready the national Aquatics Centre for opening.

“So this is a big, big move. This has to be in place before we contemplate putting in water in the water.

“This is the last big visual piece for the pool other than some bleachers going in.”

He said once the pool is filled it will only take two people to move the bulkhead to one of the four selected distances.

“Because it floats, we just need two people, one on each side to pull it because it floats. It’s rather phenomenal.”