Related Links: $5.25-Billion Panama Canal Expansion Program Moves Into the Final Leg The $5.25-billion expansion of the Panama Canal entered its latest phase in June, as the recently completed Atlantic and Pacific locks of the new third lane were flooded for the first time. The installation of the gates on the locks, which will allow the Canal to pass ships carrying 13,000 to 14,000 TEUs (20-ft-equivalent units), has been considered the most complex and difficult portion of the expansion project. With the new gates in place, operational testing can begin."We started flooding the Atlantic locks on June 11, then we

Related Links: $5.25-Billion Panama Canal Expansion Program Moves Into the Final Leg Panama Canal Owner and Contractors Agree to Final Cost, Schedule Terms  Panama Canal construction consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) has confirmed the filing, made late last month, of more than $737 million in new claims to owner Panama Canal Authority (ACP) just as the contractor touts a favorable ruling Dec. 31 by the $5.25-billion project's disputes board related to two previous claims. GUPC may still challenge the panel decision, which awarded it only $234 million of about $463 million it had sought.GUPC, led by contractors Sacyr

Related Links: Chief Engineers of the Panama Canal New York Times Obituary for George Washington Goethals Link to Gen. Temple video presentation on George Washington Goethals and the Panama Canal TempleAll industry professionals go through a maturation process that shapes their approach to challenges they face daily to become effective leaders—and Colonel George Washington Goethals, who led the successful U.S. completion of the Panama Canal a century ago, is no exception.As the canal's huge expansion nears completion, we need to study how Goethals, the one-time Corps of Engineers officer, prepared himself for the task in distinct stages—which I call his

Photo by Janice L. Tuchman for ENR The Atlantic side locks for the third lane of the Panama Canal are progressing rapidly with the gates positioned and ready to be installed. Related Links: Panama Canal Builders Agree to Final Cost, Schedule Terms Panama Canal Project Won't Be Held Hostage With the 100-year-old Panama Canal and its challenging third-lane expansion just miles away, engineers from around the world debated project transparency earlier this month in Panama City at an American Society of Civil Engineers conference.In a session on “Maintaining Transparency and Integrity in the Procurement of Gigaprojects,” moderator William P. Henry,

Photos Courtesy Panama Canal Authority Work on the new Atlantic locks for the Panama Canal expansion comes to a complete standstill on Feb. 5 after the contractor orders all workers and subcontractors to go home. In an interview with ENR, Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano says: "We are not closing the door but [contractors] are leaving us with very little room to maneuver." Related Links: ENR Editorial: High Stakes Brinkmanship at the Panama Canal Panama Canal Work Halts As Cost Dispute Talks Break Down Archive of Statements Issued by Two Sides in Panama Canal Dispute For the past six weeks the