Amazing photos of the $5.25 billion Panama Canal expansion project

[Judi Lynn]

Amazing photos of the $5.25 billion Panama Canal expansion project

Business Insider
William Fierman, Business Insider



The Panama Canal, the narrow but essential shipping lane that has for over a century connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is undergoing a $5.25 billion expansion effort.

The project will allow for ships of 2 1/2 times the size of current restrictions to pass through the canal, loosening a long standing bottleneck on international commerce.

It is an immense effort by any scale, requiring 5 million cubic meters of high-strength concrete — enough to build a highway from New York to St. Louis — and some very impressive engineering.

Unlike the current system, the new locks — scheduled to be completed this month — alongside the current, century-old ones, are designed to recycle more than 60% of the water used via a series of basins built alongside the channel.



. . .



More:
http://www.techinsider.io/panama-canal-expansion2016-6

[Eugene]

1. Test Runs Start for Panama Canal Expansion

Source: Associated Press

Test Runs Start for Panama Canal Expansion

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AGUA CLARA, Panama — Jun 9, 2016, 8:09 PM ET

The first test runs along the newly expanded Panama Canal began Thursday as tugs nudged the bulk cargo carrier Baroque into the first level of locks on the Atlantic side of the canal.

The expanded locks have increased the technical difficulty of maneuvering larger ships through the canal. But some of the challenges were eased by the weather during the test run, with it being a sunny day without much wind.

And the Baroque, at 836 feet in length, is not as big as the New Panamax behemoths, which measure up to 1,200 feet and which will begin transiting the waterway when it is opened.

The Baroque, rented for the operation, wasn't carrying cargo on the first run through the Agua Clara locks, which took about three hours.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/test-runs-start-panama-canal-expansion-39732557