Photo by C.J. Schexnayder for ENR Huge gates set for insert into canal "slots" remain to be installed. Related Links: Two Sides in Panama Canal Cost Dispute Harden Their Positions Panama Canal Teams Negotiate Cost Overrun Dispute Archive of Statements Issued by Two Sides in Panama Canal Dispute The $5.2-billion expansion of the Panama Canal came to a halt on Feb. 5 after negotiations between the contractor and the project owner over cost overruns broke down late the night before.Grupo Unidos por El Canal (GUPC), a consortium led by Spanish construction firm Sacyr Vallehermoso S.A., turned away thousands of workers
Photo courtesy of ACP Installation of huge gates for the canal's new locks are among the project's disputes. Can the owner and contractor resolve cost issues, or will other firms end up managing that installation? The Jan. 20 deadline for a work stoppage on the $5.2-billion Panama Canal expansion came and went without any halt to project activity, but the crisis over an alleged $1.6 billion in cost overruns remains unsettled and has slowed progress.Contractor Grupo Unidos Por el Canal (GUPC) now proposes that it and owner Panama Canal Authority "co-finance" the disputed costs, until their responsibility is decided by
Photo by C.J. Schexnayder for ENR Contractors and owner in $5.2-billion Panama Canal locks expansion are in dispute over how to resolve cost overruns. Related Links: Panama Canal Construction Teams Negotiate Cost Overrun Dispute Archive of Statements Issued by Two Sides Since Dispute Began Less than a day after both sides pledged to work together to resolve a disagreement threatening to stop work on the $5.2-billion Panama Canal Third Lane Expansion, project owner the Panama Canal Authority and Grupo Unidos por El Canal, its joint-venture contractor, once again hardened their stances on the cost overrun dispute.In a Jan. 8 statement,
Photo for ENR by C.J. Schexnayder Concrete terms? Contractors and canal officials differ over responsibility for quality of aggregate used for the project's concrete. Related Links: Arrival of Gates Marks Milestone in Panama Canal Expansion Panama Canal Contractor Files $573-Million Claim In an effort to avoid a threatened shutdown of work on the $5.2-billion expansion of the Panama Canal, the authority that oversees the historic waterway proposed a joint financing scheme to its construction team on Jan. 7 to cover cost overruns. But it is not clear whether a short-term deal will keep building progress on track.Officials of the Panama
C.J. Schexnayder The Miraflores Lake between the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks, site of dry excavation. The progress on the third-lane expansion project for the Panama Canal accelerated this week as officials announced the request for proposal for a dry excavation element of the work. The current contract up for bid includes the excavation, removal and disposal of 8 million cubic meters of material roughly adjacent to Miraflores Lake on the Pacific side of the canal. The work is the third of four contracts needed to create a 6.7 km link between the existing navigational channel at the entrance to
+ click to enlarge C.J. Schexnayder A ship passes under the Bridge of the Americas at Panama City, Panama, which is part of the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal Authority has awarded a $177.5-million dredging contract to a Belgium firm to widen and deepen the Pacific entrance to the canal as part of the massive $5.25-billion expansion to the historic waterway. Officials with the authority — referred to by its Spanish-language acronym, ACP � presented the contract to Dredging International of Belgium this week. "As the third and largest expansion program contract in terms of volume,
