January 2009 - The Panama Canal Authority (Autoridad del Canal de Panamá ACP) has contracted a consortium called GUPC to construct the two locks in the new Panama Canal. Iv-Groep is a member of engineering group C.I.C.P., a subcontractor of GUPC, which is responsible for the design of the locks.
Following a referendum the Panamanian government said it wanted to widen the canal for economic reasons. At its narrowest point the old canal is 33.5 metres wide and barely navigable by existing Panamax vessels. Post-Panamax vessels will be unable to go beyond this point. But the new locks will provide a solution for the Post-Panamax vessels from 2014. One of the requirements in the specification document was that the locks had to be available for maritime traffic 99% of the time measured over the years. This condition obviously imposes stringent maintenance requirements. Allowance is being made for this in the design of the locks. The way the wheel gear under the gates will be maintained is something new. Whereas divers have to go down at present, the design of the new locks will allow the wheels to be lifted out of the water from the surface. The canal runs through Gatun Lake that is approximately 30 metres higher than the oceans. This explains the need for two lock complexes, i.e. one on the Pacific Ocean side and one on the Atlantic coast. Each lock has three chambers separated by double gates. Each complex has a total of eight doors. The lock gates are capable of withstanding earthquakes and other phenomena that occur frequently in this region. Gatun Lake doubles as a large fresh water reservoir of great importance for Panama because it provides the population with drinking water and power. The emptying of the lake would be a true disaster and must be avoided. Among other things it is essential to minimise the risk of ships colliding with one of the gates. That is why all of the gates have been duplicated. The first gate will hold back the ship, the second the water. The chambers have storage reservoirs to minimise any losses of fresh water. Making the water run through these reservoirs during lockage allows its reuse. The walls of the locks are made of concrete and are up to 33 metres tall. At the bottom they are 30 metres wide. The consortium's tender was chosen as the best engineering solution and at USD 3.1 billion it was also the lowest-priced. The consortium was the only bidder below the budget ceiling of USD 3.48 billion. Iv-Groep will obtain turnover in excess of €20 from the project plus 80 man-years of work. The considerable experience of Iv-Groep of designing locks includes high-profile projects like the Malamocco locks in Venice and the Noordersluis lock at IJmuiden near Amsterdam. The project started September 2009 and the design must be ready by year-end 2010. The locks must be available for maritime traffic in 2014.
Back to overview