The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded a $10.1 million contract to build the 120-foot air traffic control tower at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport.

Airport assistant executive director Jim Foster tells The Sun Herald that the new tower will be state-of-the-art with the ability to be upgraded with new technology. It will be taller and more centrally located than the tower built in the early 1970s.

The FAA says the tower is designed to withstand high-level hurricane force winds.

The groundbreaking is scheduled for later this year and the tower will be operational in early 2012.