A construction consortium from Spain, Mexico and Costa Rica has outbid three other competitors for the second-largest contract awarded in the Panama Canal’s $5.2-billion Third Lane Expansion effort, eclipsed only by the price tag for design and construction of the waterway’s new locks. Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, S.A. (FCC), along with Mexico’s Empresas ICA and Constructora MECO of Costa Rica, submitted a bid of $268 million for the fourth and final contract to construct a 6.7-kilometer-long access channel on the canal’s Pacific side. Panama Canal Authority Rendered photo illustrates dam structure (center in green) that will be built because
The cause of a massive electrical blackout that darkened large portions of Brazil in early November is still being investigated despite initial reports from the national grid operator that lightning and strong winds affected the transmission grid in southern Brazil. Photo: Germano Luders Itaipu hydro plant, on the border of Paraguay and Brazil, stayed in operation following Nov. 10 storms, officials say. Transmission lines serving the Brazilian grid did not fare as well. At 10:13 p.m. on Nov. 10, the lights went out in Brazil. For almost three hours a massive swath of the South American country, including 18 of
An ambitious 2,500-kilometer-long “power highway” that will stretch across the breadth of Brazil has taken an important step forward with the awarding of a major subcontract to provide equipment and initial construction of the power line. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder / ENR Madeira River site is ideal for run-of-river hydro project. In late July, Zurich-based ABB snagged the $540-million contract to build a 600-kV portion of a power line that will connect two massive hydroelectric projects under construction on the Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon Basin to the urban center of São Paulo. The job was awarded to two ABB
Earlier this month the Obama Administration breathed new life into the FutureGen experimental “clean coal” electric generating plant in Mattoon, Ill., that would trap and store carbon dioxide emissions. The administration pledged $1 billion to its development. Initially introduced by the Bush administration in 2003 as a means to develop low-emissions coal-fired power plants, the project was dropped early last year due to cost overruns. FutureGen Alliance, a consortium of coal and utility companies working to build the plan, estimate the project will cost approximately $2.4 billion to complete. A decision on whether to go forward with construction on the
Mike Kennedy arrived in Panama earlier this year to head CH2M Hill’s management of the $5.25 billion Panama Canal Third Lane Expansion. The CH2M Hill Executive Vice president is a 38-year veteran of the Denver, Col.-based firm. He previously served as the president of the company’s Transportation Business Group, handling management services for several major jobs such as London’s $22 billion Crossrail Programme and Vancouver’s $4.5 billion Gateway Program. CH2M Hill is working in close association with the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) to oversee the expansion effort and, particularly, the design/build locks contract due to be awarded this summer. Kennedy
Panamanian firm Constructora Urbana SA (CUSA) won the first dry-excavation contract in July 2007 with a low bid of $41.1 million for the Pacific locks access channel, but was outbid for the two subsequent jobs. However, CUSA offered its services to the winning firms and netted subcontracting jobs with both. “We have the equipment out there already, and we can pretty much keep doing what we have been doing,” says CUSA Executive Vice President Carlos Fábrega. “We keep our equipment operating and our people at work.” Photo: C.J. Schexnayder/ENR Non-canal expansion construction thrives in Panama. Related Links: Panama Widens Horizons
This dry excavation, requiring removal of 47 million cu m, is needed to create the Pacific locks access channel–a 6.7-kilometer link between the existing navigation channel and the new locks to be built next to the Miraflores Locks. The Cocoli River, which empties into Miraflores Lake, is being rerouted 3.5 km. The 5 km-long Borinquen Road was also relocated. All Photos: C.J. Schexnayder/ENR Finding ordinance (top), blasting (middle) and moving rivers (bottom) are all part of Panama work. Related Links: Panama Widens Horizons Another tricky aspect has been the removal of unexploded ordinance from a former U.S. Army firing range.
When U.S. engineer John Frank Stevens arrived in Panama in July 1905 to take over the American effort to construct the Panama Canal, he was appalled. The endeavor to build the transoceanic waterway already was a year old and had consumed more than $128 million. “I found no organization…no answerable head who might delegate authority…no cooperation existing between what might charitably be called the departments,” Stevens wrote, as reported in David McCullough’s watershed book “The Path Between the Seas.” Slide Show Photo: ACP Current Panama Canal facilities are a tight fit for ships. Related Links: Panama Canal Third Lane Expansion
Brazil’s Odebrecht has won a $2.1-billion concession for the upgrade and new construction of the Dom Pedro Highway in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 30-year concessionaire will be responsible for the upgrade and maintenance of a total of almost 185 miles of tolled roadway traversing 17 cities between Mogi Guaçu and Jacarei the northeast of Sao Paulo’s urban center. The project is part of an ongoing effort to alleviate traffic problems in the country’s largest metro area. “We will invest ... 1.4 billion in the first six years,” says Leonardo Mala, an Odebrecht spokesman. “We will start the
