Luxembourg-based dredging and maritime management company Jan de Nul Group have reported that a development project aimed at restoring water to the Panama Canal, has this week experienced success on the Atlantic side of the canal.
Since 2010, Jan de Nul Group - an international contractor specialising in dredging, land reclamation, heavy lifting and environmental services - has formed part of a consortium of businesses working on building new sets of locks in the Canal. The work involved the construction of two sets of locks, each with three chambers. Each lock chamber nearly as large as the Berendrecht lock in Antwerp. Through the size of the locks and the scale of the project, it is expected that the Panama Canal's capacity will increase by 80%.
The Panama Canal represents a fast and safe route for maritime travel, and has therefore been a well-known source of engineering projects for various countries and companies since the 1880s. The new initiative, under the guidance of the Jan de Nul Group and contractors such as the Spanish Sacyr Vallehermoso, the Italian Impregilo, and the Panamanian company Grupo Cusa intends to open newly-built locks for the passage of ships within the year.
The completion of the first phase on the Atlantic side of the locks will require six million cubic metres of water, and is expected to take seven days.
Photo Credit: Jan de Nul Group
