emplica formwork repair: Expansion of Panama Canal, one of the worlds current Megaprojects

Monday, October 4, 2010

Expansion of Panama Canal, one of the worlds current Megaprojects

The Panama Canal, opened in 1914 for Vessels, is a 80 kilometer long connection between the atlantic and pacific ocean.
Construction started in 1904 with the goal to shorten east-west route for commercial shipping. In the early days, about 1.000 vessels went through the canal per year, recently this number has increased to 14.000 ships per annum.
Due to the extreme increase and the much larger cargo vessels used today, the panama canal has become too small and is currently being expanded. The expansion of the panama canal is one of southern americas largest construction project with an estimated budget of US$ 5.3 bn. (compare this to the new trainstation in stuttgart with at least7 bn euro).