panama canal expansion program

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PANAMA CANALEXPANSION PROGRAM

MARCH 2013


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Post-Panamax Locks

Construction o the new Pacic and Atlantic lock complexes or Post-Panamax

vessels transits. Each complex will eature three chambers, three water-savingbasins per chamber, a lateral lling and emptying system and eight rolling gates.

Pacifc Access Channel

Improvements to Water Supply

Dredging o Navigational Channels

Deepening and widening o the existing navigational channels at the sea

entrances to the Canal, Culebra Cut and Gatun Lake.

Excavation o a new channel to connect the new Pacic locks with Culebra Cut.

The project requires the excavation o nearly 50 million cubic meters o material.It was divided into our phases, o which the rst three have already beencompleted.

Raising Gatun Lakes maximum operating level to improve Canal water supply and

drat dependability.

EXPANSION PROGRAM COMPONENTS

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1. Gatun Lake 2. New Atlantic locks 3. Atlantic entrance dredging


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Since September 2007, a 6.1 kilometer-long Pacic

Access Channel, which runs parallel to Miraores Lake,but separated rom it, is being excavated to connectthe new locks on the Pacic side and Culebra Cut. The

project, which requires the removal o 50 million cubicmeters o material, was divided into our phases, o

which the rst three have already been completed.

Consortium ICA-FCC-MECO, in charge o the ourthphase, has reached the required depth or thenavigation o deeper drat vessels along the channel

and continues with the construction o a 2.3 kilometer-long dam necessary to make up or the 9-meter level

dierence with Miraores Lake.

Activities under this project have also includedclearing o 400 hectares o land contaminated withunexploded ammunition (UXOs) let behind by the US

military during its deployment in the Panama CanalZone.

PROJECTSThe Expansion Program registers 50% overall progress, as stated on the December 31st, 2012 Report to the Nation.

Computer rendering o the Pacifc Access Channel.

PACIFIC ACCESS CHANNEL

cavation at the Borinquen dam site.

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4. Pacic entrance dredging 5. New Pacic locks 6. Mirafores Lake 7. Pacic Access Channel 8. Culebra Cut


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Atlantic EntranceDredging the 13.8 kilometer - long channel or the new Canal Atlantic entrance called or the removal o some 18 million cubic meters omaterial. The channel was widened rom its original 198 meters to 225 meters.

The contract was awarded to Belgian company Jan de Nul n.v. on September 25, 2009. The Panama Canal Authority exercised the optiondeepen beyond the established 15.5 meters to 16.1 meters.A great variety o dredging equipment was deployed and rapid progress was achieved. Some o the dredges that tackled the workincluded the Marco Polo (cutter suction), the Filippo Brunelleschi(hopper) and the Vitruvius (backhoe).

Pacifc Entrance

To guarantee the sae navigation o post-Panamax ships along the Canals water route, the Expansion Program included dredgingprojects on both oceanic entrances, Culebra Cut and Gatun Lake.

To date, deepening and widening activities on the Atlantic and Pacic entrances have already been concluded.

This contract was awarded on April 1st, 2008 to Belgian company Dredging International Panama, S.A. (DI). The project consisted othe widening and deepening to 15.5 meters below mean low water level o the Canals Pacic entrance navigational channel.

The work entailed dredging 8.7 million cubic meters o subaquatic material. DI deployed the DArtagnan, one o the worlds mostpowerul cutter-suction dredges, the Vlaanderen XIXand the hopper dredge Lange Wapper.

DREDGING

Pacic entrance dredging.

Dredge Marco Polo working at the Atlantic entrance.


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This component o the program consists o raising Gatun Lakes maximum operating level rom 26.7 meters, to 27.1 meters toimprove the Canals water supply. This improvement will increase reservoir capacity by approximately 165 million cubic meters o

water and will require that adjustments and modications be made to specic structures in the existing locks.

As part o this project, the 14 gates o the Gatun spillway were extended and two additional gates were built at the Canalsindustrial dry dock. Moreover, two caissons were also acquired so maintenance o the higher gates can be conducted.

This project calls or the removal o 29 million cubic meters o material to straighten the sinuous curves o the Culebra Cut thenarrowest part o the Canal- and deepening and widening o the navigational channel in Gatun Lake.

Part o the work is being conducted by the Canal workorce using in-house equipment, and part by contractors Dredging

International and Jan de Nul.

In 2011, Jan de Nul completed dredging and excavation work to create the north entrance to the new Pacic Access Channel.

The ooding o the area was conducted late that year. In the meantime, Dredging International nished dredging work o the

northern reaches o Gatun Lake. To date, straightening o all reaches along Culebra Cut has been completed.

RAISING GATUN LAKES MAXIMUM OPERATING LEVEL

GATUN LAKE AND CULEBRA CUT

Culebra Cut dredging dredge Cornelius.


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Each lock complex one on the Pacic and one on the Atlantic side will have three chambers, water-saving basins, a latera

lling and emptying system, and rolling gates. Water-saving basin technology will allow the new locks to operate using

7% less water than the existing locks and reuse 60% o the water required or each transit. The lateral lling and emptying

system will allow lling each lock chamber in 10 minutes whenever water-saving basins are not used, and in 17 minutes

when they are included in the operation.

THIRD SET OF LOCKS - ATLANTIC SITE

1. Gatun Locks

2. Industrial Park Third Set o Locks

3. Watersaving basins

4. Gatun Lake

5. Construction site Third Set o Locks

6. Caribbean Sea

7. Jose Dominador Bazan community

8. Gatun Observation Center


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The new locks will require 16 rolling gates. These gates will operate rom a recess located adjacent and perpendicular to the

lock chamber. This conguration turns each recess into a dry dock, which can be used to service the gates on site without the

need o removing them and without major interruptions to lock operations.


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The design and construction o the Panama Canals new locks is the most complex projectunder the Expansion Program. At a cost o $3.2 billion -60% o the programs total budget-

the contract was awarded to consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal on July 15, 2009. Theconsortium, ormed by Sacyr Vallehermoso S.A. rom Spain; Impregilo SpA rom Italy; Jande Nul n.v rom Belgium and Constructora Urbana, S.A. rom Panama, initiated the works on

August 25 o the same year.

The project involves the design and construction o two locks complexes, one on the Pacicand the other on the Atlantic side. Each one will have three chambers, nine water-saving

basins, a lateral lling and emptying system and eight rolling gates.

The contractor is currently working on the structural concrete pouring o the walls and

conduits o the locks, while embedding metal parts that will later t control electromechanical

equipment.

The massive electromechanical parts that will control water ow as part o the locks

operations are being built overseas. For instance, the rst two shipments o valves arrived inPanamanian waters in December 2012 and January 2013, respectively, rom the shipyards oHyundai Samho Heavy Industries in South Korea. On the other hand, the 16 rolling gates are

being abricated in Italy by Cimolai, SpA. Shipping o the rst our is expected by August othis year.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE THIRD SET OF LOCKS

Pacifc construction sit


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Care or the environment is a priority under everyproject o the Expansion Program. A thorough

monitoring and auditing plan guarantees that impactsto air, water and soil are mitigated in compliance with

strict international standards.Each program component includes wildlie rescueand relocation activities in all areas in which projects

are executed. To date, thousands o mammals,reptiles and birds have been rescued and relocated to

protected areas.Moreover, the Panama Canal Authority has worked in

collaboration with Panamas National EnvironmentalAuthority (ANAM) and the Aquatic Resources Authority(ARAP) to develop nine dierent reorestation

projects within protected areas across the country. Atotal o 626 hectares have already been reorested in

projects that go rom Chiriqui, Panamas westernmostprovince, to Chepo, located East o Panama City.

The more than 600,000 seedlings o native speciesalready planted are at the care o local residents,who in addition to learning new reorestation and

conservation techniques, have played an important

role as part o the Expansion Program.

The ACP has also contributed $3.7 million to ANAM

and ARAP as ecological compensation.

As the program evolves, archaeological and paleontologicalremains continue to be ound in dredging and excavation areas.

For instance, the list o ndings includes a Spanish dagger rom

the 16th Century ound in the Pacic Access Channel excavation,and pre-Columbian arrowheads and bottles dating back to thebeginning o the 20th Century.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) collaborates in

the location and analysis o ossils ound in all work areas.

Reorestation project in Tapagra, Chepo.

LOCATION OF REFORESTATION PROJECTS

ENVIRONMENT

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PALEONTOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Fossils o megalodon teeth (extinct species o shark rom

the Cenozoic Era).


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In compliance with its responsibility to

inorm on the progress o the Expansion

Program and as established by Law 28o July 17, 2006, the Canal publishes

quarterly reports with progress achievedunder the program or auditing entities

including the Executive Branch, theNational Assembly, Panamas General

Comptrollers Ofce and the Canals Ad-hoc Committee (ormed by members othe civil society), as well as or multilateral

nancing agencies. The contents othese reports are available or public

consultation in the Canals Internet page atwww.micanaldepanama.com.

The Expansion Program also establishedhotline 800-0714 and e-mail address

[email protected] respond toqueries regarding general inormation on

the program and to respond to questions,concerns and suggestions made by the

general public related to the execution othe works.

Expansion update session.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Regarding theenvironmental

aspect, the Canalhas established a

strict environmentalsurveillance and

auditing program toguarantee compliancewith the programs

environmentalcommitments.


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The Panama Canal Authority signed agreements with a group o bilateral and multilateral nancing institutions to procure

nancing o up to $2.3 billion required to complete the expansion o the waterway.

With the authorization o the Cabinet Council, the Canal Board o Directors proceeded to subscribe nancing agreements with

the ollowing institutions:

Since the beginning o the works, the ExpansionProgram has created more than 28,000 direct

jobs. The diversity o the activities and theintroduction o innovative technology andequipment, have enabled ormidable transer o

know-how to the local labor orce.

Throughout these ve years, thousands o menand women have gained unique proessionalexperience that has enabled them to contribute

to building a better uture or Panama and theirown.

FINANCING

LABOR

The labor orce comes rom all areas o the country.


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