New contract to expand Panama Canal opens
PANAMA CITY (AFP) — Bidding has opened on the third contract to expand the Panama Canal's access to the Pacific Ocean, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced Tuesday.
The contract, to be awarded through competitive bidding at the lowest price, will be to excavate, remove and dispose of eight million cubic meters of material from 6.7 kilometers (4.2 miles) of the channel to the Pacific.
The work also includes the cleanup of ammunition and explosives from approximately 190 hectares (470 acres) of a former shooting range used by the US military during their presence in the Central American nation, the ACP said in a statement.
"The expansion is advancing in accordance with the program," said Jorge Luis Quijano, the ACP's executive vice president of engineering and program administration.
The canal expansion project, begun in September 2007 and budgeted at 5.25 billion dollars, is expected to be completed by August 2014, 100 years after completion of the initial construction on the 80-kilometer (50-mile) canal connecting two oceans.
The canal was built 1904-1914 by the United States, which handed control over to Panama in December 1999.
The largest ships that now use the canal carry up to 5,000 containers, but after the expansion supertankers and ships carrying as many as 12,000 containers will be able to sail the canal.
