Times of the Islands Spring 2021

I marked out the new runway, set up grade stakes and
Billy Dodson got to work with the D8 tractor. Billy had
also given Junior Rigby on-the-job training, and Junior
became an excellent operator, first on the D8 and later on
the grader. (In fact, many of the roads we are driving on
today were originally built by Junior.) We reserved 1,000
feet in width for the new runway, thinking of possible
future taxiways, but we originally only cleared 500 feet in
width. Very soon, Billy and Junior made a small area in the
northeast corner ready for landings and takeoffs. Once
we started operating from there, the original handmade
airstrip was never used again.
Even if Provident’s obligation to the government was
to build 4,500 feet, we originally cleared 6,000 feet. By
the early 1970s, the entire 6,000 feet had been built out
with a coral surface. Around 1977 the entire runway was
surfaced with a sealcoat.
Starting in 1981, a major upgrade was undertaken by
Johnston Construction, financed through a British grant.
This was part of Club Med’s deal, which required an airport
up to FAA standards. The runway was extended to
8,000 feet. The limestone base was recycled and reinforced
through cement stabilization, while the runway
was surfaced with a triple sealcoat. A new terminal was
built in the present location, replacing the original one
that Provident had built further east. In the 1990s, the
runway was resurfaced with hotmix asphalt. That work
was done during the nights to avoid interruption of operations.
The 2011 expansion took the runway to 9,200
feet. a
Author’s note: The D8 was a very important piece of
equipment and at least one of the guys on my survey
crew agreed. In the spring of 1969 there was a lot of talk
about the upcoming moon landing. I had told the guys
that this was just the beginning. In the future they would
shoot rockets from the moon so they would need something
like an airport. One of the guys said, “But how are
they going to get a D8 up there?” I think we agreed that it
would take many trips bringing up a small piece at a time.
In those days we got news via shortwave radio so we
knew that the moon landing would be shown live on TV.
We didn’t want to miss this event, so when the day came,
five or six of us in the Provident group flew to Puerto
Rico to watch the landing. Luckily, the Spanish commentator
was quiet for a few seconds so we could hear Neil
Armstrong’s famous words. A few years back, I was fortunate
enough to meet Buzz Aldrin, the second man on
the moon. He got a kick out of my story.
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