WORK to restore Swakopmund's 100-year-old jetty is in full swing, and should be completed before the end of the year.

For the past couple of months, technicians and engineers, under the management of Dries Jacobs, have been working on cutting down old steel beams and replacing them with new ones, while removing rust from others and strengthening the whole lot.

"The technology the Germans used a hundred years ago to build this jetty is extraordinary, and to reinforce it with the technology we have now is probably the biggest challenge to us," Jacobs told the press during a site visit on Wednesday.

Before the first half of the 300-metre jetty was restored about three years ago, the jetty was closed to the public for over a decade. It was then decided to restore only the first half due to uncertainties over the condition of the second half of the pier.

The LightHouse Group's Quinton Liebenberg said the jetty would not be the same if it was not restored in full; so with the consent of the Swakopmund Municipality, engineers studied the feasibility of restoring the second half.

The results proved that it would be possible with proper reinforcement, and so the million-dollar project was given the green light.

The reason why the jetty became so dilapidated, according to Liebenberg, is that it was never really maintained.

He said once it is restored completely, maintenance and inspections would be done monthly to preserve it for "another hundred years" and to ensure safety.

Besides restoring the jetty to its original glory, its commercial value will also be enhanced with the creation of an oyster bar and seafood restaurant, a museum and several curio stalls.

The night lighting will also be done in such a way that, according to Liebenberg, "people won't be able to take their eyes off it".

"I want to bring back its usefulness and also enhance its commercial value so that in the end it would be able to sustain itself," he said.