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Expanded Panama Canal could be operational by May 31: project chief

Xinhua, February 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

A newly-expanded Panama Canal designed to accommodate the much larger cargo ships of modern days could be operational by May 31, the head of the expansion project said on Monday.

Ilya Espino, who is overseeing the addition of a third set of extra-large locks for the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), told local media: "We can't commit to a date at this time, but if everything goes like it did during the latest trial that took place Thursday, the builder should be able to meet the mileposts that lie ahead, which would take us to May 31."

On Sunday, the ACP announced that the multinational construction consortium GUCP (Grupos Unidos por el Canal) successfully tested the newly installed locks.

The test consisted of "gradually raising the water behind the lock gate" to check for seepage, the ACP said, adding that the floodgate was then inspected by "a team of independent experts, professors and structural engineers from the Technological University f Panama (UTP), all of whom expressed satisfaction with the final results."

More tests are pending on "the electromechanical components necessary for the expanded canal to operate," but the project is 96 percent complete, the ACP said.

With an initial investment of 5.25 billion U.S. dollars, expansion work on the 100-year-old waterway began in 2007 and is at least a year behind schedule, as it was originally scheduled to open on or near Aug. 15, 2014 to mark the canal's centennial celebrations.

The delay has been caused by some technical problems, as well as labor and pay disputes between the canal's operator and the consortium in charge of the expansion, comprised of Spanish company Sacyr Vallehermoso, Italy's Salini Impregilo, Belgium's Jan de Nul and Panamanian firm Constructora Urbana S.A.

GUPC Executive Director Guiseppe Quarta has said the project is now progressing as planned, following last month's repairs of fissures in the new locks. Endit