the Airport runway.

It will not be the longest fence in Bermuda -- the one around the outside of the US Naval Air Station has that distinction.

But at a cost of something "less than $1 million'', the runway fence is the biggest fencing job that Government has put out to tender.

The 16,000-foot fence - which will run from the new North Atlantic Treaty Organisation hangar to Castle Harbour -- is to be six feet to seven feet high, made from aluminised steel to prevent corrosion.

Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons said the fence will have 150 posts, three unmanned vehicle gates, one pedestrian turnstile gate, and two pairs of vehicle gates at the new hangar.

Construction is to start in late April or early May, with the fence completed by the third week in August.

The deadline for tenders is April 21.

Dr. Gibbons said it was "hard to say'' whether the Navy fence around the outside of the Base would be coming down.

It might make sense to remove the fence near Marginal Wharf if it was developed as a warehouse and industrial area, Dr. Gibbons said. But it would also be useful to keep other sections of the fence, like the stretch around Roger B. Chaffee School, assuming Government turned it into a middle school for the east end.

Government had "a quick look'' at moving the outside fence back to the edge of the runway, but there were a number of logistical problems with that, Dr.

Gibbons said.

"It's very difficult to move old fence, once it's already been subject to some corrosion.''