Panama canal

Third excavation contract to be awarded

LA PRENSA

on schedule: Panama Canal authorities say the expansion is proceeding on schedule.1099403

The third contract for dry excavation for the expansion of the Panama Canal on the Pacific side will include the cleanup of 14 areas of unexploded ordnance on 190.3 hectares.

The project consists of the excavation, removal and disposal of 8 million cubic meters of material. This contract is the third to complete the dry excavation of the Paraíso hill, located near the Pedro Miguel Locks.

Bids for the project will be opened on Nov. 18.

The material from the excavation work will be deposited in the reservoir area known as T-6, according to the statement of objections.

“This tender demonstrates that the expansion is progressing on schedule,” said Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) official Jorge Luis Quijano.

The access channel on the Pacific side will be 6.7 kilometers long and allow the passage of postpanamax ships from the Pacific entrance of the canal to the Culebra cut, which is south of the Centennial Bridge. So far the ACP has awarded two of the four dry excavation contracts that are part of the Canal's expansion. The first was awarded to Constructora Urbana (Cusa), and the second to the consortium CILS Panama-Minera Maria.