Panama Canal reaches major milestone

The Panama Canal Authority has announced that it has reached a major milestone in the expansion of the facility having carried out over half of the envisaged improvements.

Photo by Juliette Passer

"The program continues to progress and reach milestones while we focus the next phases on building the locks," said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano. "We estimate based on the progress that we can begin commercial transits mid-2015," he said.

Once completed, the Panama Canal expansion, which is the largest project in its history, will double the waterway's capacity and allow for the passage of longer, wider vessels.
Meanwhile, the excavation of the Pacific lock access channel, involving the removal of more than 50 million cubic meters of materials along a 6.1km span, is 70% complete.