Work has started on installing the second-hand jetty, which was salvaged from the Milford Sound Underwater Observatory and bought by the Queenstown Lakes District Council last year.
The jetty will be just west of the council-owned boat ramp and the Wanaka marina. The cost of installation has been estimated to be $220,000.
Bellingham Marine New Zealand Ltd from Auckland was awarded the contract to install the pontoon.
Deputy mayor Calum Macleod said he had laid a small bet with a local boating operator that it would be ready by Christmas.Because the only publicly-owned pontoon in Wanaka became completely "chocka" during the summer there was a real need for a second, he said.
"These ramps will operate a whole lot better and it will give the commercial boys somewhere to go and hopefully that will be a huge positive for the town."
Although the pontoon jetty would be available to the public, there would be a user pays component but that had yet to be worked out, Cr Macleod said.
