THE EXPANSION
225mtr and deepen it to a maximum level of 15.5mtr Mean Low Water Springs (MLWS).
The construction is of a high standard
comments Aleman. Having completed the cofferdam, it has begun the construction of the Borinquen dam, which is very complex, and going ‘very well,’ he says.
On the Pacific side, where works progress is more difficult to visualise, the consortium needs to excavate an additional 14m cu mtr, but first, it must fill the excavations made by the US Corps of Engineers in 1939, so that the water saving basins can be constructed over this space. The material on the Atlantic side is Gatun formation (a type of sandstone), much softer than the basalt on the Pacific side. Consequently there is no need to drill and blast prior to excavating. ‘By the end of August 2011, excavations on the Atlantic locks area had reached close to 11m cu mtr out of a total of 15.6m cu mtr,’ Quijano says.
Jan de Nul was awarded the Atlantic entrance channel dredging with a bid of $89.6m to remove about 14.8m cu mtr, plus dry excavations of 800,000cu mtr. The area extends 13.8km and the Belgium Company will have to deepen the existing entrance to 15.5mtr and widen it to a minimum of 225mtr from the present 198mtr width. The north approach channel to the future new locks will also be widened to a minimum of 218mtr. JDN has been awarded an option to dredge another 2.3m cu mtr that will ‘increase the depth from 15.5mtr to 16.1mtr,’ says Quijano. The execution of such contract had reached 85% at end-August 2011.
Belgium’s Dredging International was awarded the dredging of the Pacific
PANAMA MARITIME REVIEW 2011/12 Pacific access channel 23
entrance in April 2008. DI bid $177.5m to widen the Canal’s approximate 14km navigation channel to a minimum of
The modernisation programme dredging activity is being performed simultaneously with expansion dredging and should be completed in 2012. Meanwhile, work continues on widening Gaillard Cut, the narrowest part of the waterway, which is mostly done by the ACP as it is most experienced to safely work around transiting vessels. In addition to the dredging work in Gatun Lake, ACP’s own Dredging Division will carry out the remaining works of the modernisation programme, which is in its last phase and should lower the navigation channel and Gatun Lake to 10.36mtr PLD elevation from 11.3mtr PLD elevation, says Quijano. The Gaillard Cut/Gatun Lake expansion and dredging project, will widen the navigation channels and deepen to 9.14mtr elevation to a minimum width of 218mtr. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. As part of the expansion programme Gatun Lake level will be raised by 0.45mtr to 27.1mtr (PLD) a year later. •
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