Panama Real Estate Blog

Panama Canal Expansion Benefits a Variety of Providers

The expansion of the Panama Canal and the benefits that are realized with the successful bids in terms of the provision and services for the new locks is not merely limited to that of the construction companies that were successful in their respective tenders.

The first successful tender was awarded to the European Panamanian Consortium that bid for the construction of the third set of locks, however an additional contract was awarded for the transportation of the machinery and equipment to and from the construction site for the locks. This carrier contract has been welcomed by the industry as the economy has cooled off over recent times, due to the global recession.

Currently the source of materials and components of the third set of locks are not yet known, sue to the fact that the engineering design process has not as yet been completed. Once these issues are made public various contractors may well be sub-contracted into the provision of supply of these materials from various sources across the world. According to the CEO and President of Rickmers-Linie (America) these contracts will definitely provide great value to the selected and contracted.

So far the selected bidders, who were successful in their tenders, include Sacyr Vallehermoso of Spain, Impregilo of Italy, Jan De Nul of Belgium and Constructora Urbana of Panama. And these subcontractors specialize in both dam building and water treatment, which is in line with the Canal Authority’s specific priority of water conservation throughout the Canal system, and more so in the new expansion sections.

Whilst all details regarding the sourcing of materials will be released soon, so far the largest components for the machinery and gates for the new locks have been confirmed to be manufactured and supplied by Heerema Fabrication Group. Heerema operates from construction yards in the Netherlands and in the United Kingdom, with diversified engineering interests in the United States.

The specifications for the new locks are close on 50% larger than that of the existing locks, which will also provide an additional water depth exceeding the current 42 feet by 18 feet to cater for up to 60 feet deep conditions. The length and breadth of the new locks are 1400 feet and 180 feet respectively, and are expected to be sliding gates compared to the current swinging gates, due to the water conservation benefits that can be realized by sliding gates, due to the fact that this type is more watertight. It is expected that the gates will be made on site in the Netherlands and be shipped to site for assembly.

Contracts and developments that have been realized as a direct result of the expansion project include the addition of terminals on the Pacific coast of both Panama and the United States, which have provided very lucrative contracts for providers in this area of development. One of the contracts within Panama includes that of terminal development at the former Rodman Naval Base, which is valued at $600 million and has been awarded to PSA International from Singapore. Additional developments in New Orleans and Fort Lauderdale have also been mentioned, and come about as a result of this expansion project.
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