Panama Canal to call for bids in last dry excavation in expansion

THE Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will soon solicit bids for the fourth and last dry excavation project, said a communique.

The project will be the final phase in creating a critical access channel that will link the new Pacific locks with the Canal's existing Gaillard Cut (the narrowest stretch of the waterway), said the statement.

As the second most significant contract of the expansion programme, work will include the excavation, removal and disposal of 27 million cubic metres of non-classified material.

The call for bids will include work to install of a 1.8-kilometre long backfilled cellular cofferdam water barrier, and the construction of a 2.8-kilometre long impervious clay core-rock fill dam.

Other work in the contract includes the construction of access roads, the management of disposal sites, installation a dewatering system to remove surface and underground water, implementation and management of environmental controls and the clearance of unexploded ordnance (UXO) - leftover bombs from former US military training grounds.

The ACP expects to make construction plans, specifications and contractual requirements available by the end of the month, said the statement..

"The release of the fourth and final dry excavation RFP is, without a doubt, a key milestone in this programme. The canal expansion continues to move on track, on budget and with steady progress," said ACP vice president and engineering chief Jorge Quijano.

Expansion will build a new lane of traffic along the Panama Canal through the construction of a new set of locks that will double capacity and allow more traffic and longer, wider ships.

(Source: Shipping Gazette)