Name and Location
Panama Canal expansion project.
Client
The government of Panama, represented by Autoridad del Canal de Panam· (ACP).
Project Description
The project entails the expansion of the Panama Canal by adding a third set of locks, one at each end of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the canal.
Each lock facility will feature three chambers, nine water-saving basins, a lateral filling and emptying system and rolling gates.
The Atlantic locks complex will be located east of the existing Gat˙n locks complex, and the Pacific locks complex will be located south-west of the existing Miraflores locks, in Cocoli.
The location of the complexes will occupy an extensive section of the excavations performed by the US government for the third set of locks project, which started in 1939.
The new locks will each be 427 m long, with a beam of 49 m and a draught of 15.2 m, suitable for ships of up to 366 m in length.
The existing locks are each 304.8 m long, 55 m wide and 18.3 m deep, with a beam of 32.3 m and a draught of 12.4 m, which can accommodate ships of up to 294.1 m in length.
The excavation of new navigational channels will allow for access between the new locks and the existing channels, as well as the deepening and widening of the existing channels.
Widening the existing channels to 218 m will allow for the navigation of post-Panamax vessels through these channels in one direction at a time.
The Gaillard Cut and Gat˙n Lake navigation channels will be deepened by 1.2 m to a precise level datum (PLD) of 9.2 m, raising the maximum operational level of Gat˙n Lake by 0.45 m, from its existing 26.7 m PLD to 27.1 m PLD.
This project component will increase Gat˙n Lake’s functional water-reserve capacity.
Value
The project is estimated at more than $5.25-billion.
Duration
Commercial transits are expected to begin in mid-2015.
Latest Developments
The Panama Canal expansion project reached 96% completion in December 2015 and is yet another step closer to its opening this year.
One of the milestones crucial to the canal reaching completion is the removal of the northern plug separating the new Pacific Access Channel from Culebra Cut.
On December 24, 2015, the blasting phase of the plug began.
Located on the south of the Centennial bridge on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal, the plug separated Gatun Lake and the 6.3-km-long Pacific access channel, which will provide navigation access to and from the new Pacific-facing locks.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Andean Development Corporation and the International Finance Corporation (loan finance); the Grupo Unidos por el Canal joint venture, comprising Jan de Nul, Sacyr Vallehermoso, Impregilo and Constructora Urbana (Cusa) (design and construction of the new third set of locks); Peri (planning and supply of formwork and scaffolding systems); Cusa (excavation of the Pacific access channel Phase 1); Cilsa Panama-Minera Maria consortium (excavation of the Pacific access channel Phase 2); Constructora Meco (excavation of the Pacific access channel Phase 3); a consortium comprising Constructora ICA, Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas and Constructora Meco (excavation of the Pacific access channel Phase 4); Dredging International (dredging of the Pacific entrance navigational channel, the Gat˙n Lake north access channel and the Atlantic entrance); ACP (dredging for the deepening and widening of Gat˙n Lake and deepening of Culebra Cut); Jan de Nul (dredging of the new Pacific access channel north approach); Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (conduit valves).
On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
ACP corporate communications, tel +507 272 7602.