Save the Cruces Trail and Panama Canal Watershed

Leaking locks disrupt Panama Canal expansion by   Richard Arghiris   |   11th December 2015   |   @richardarghiris The sight of waterfalls cascading out of a fissure in the new Panama Canal locks must have brought tears to the eyes of the embattled Panama Canal Authority (ACP) last August. The revelation that key components in the canal’s $5.3 billion expansion are seriously faulty has raised dozens of important questions, not least concerning safety, but the ACP is being far from transparent. Following a high-charged national referendum when pride and patriotism ran high, work to double the canal’s carrying capacity began in 2007. Now 95 percent complete, the project includes the construction of new access channels and locks to accommodate ‘Post-Panamax’ vessels, including giant super-tankers. Corruption, disputes and scandal A variety of setbacks has since plagued the project. Costly disputes with contractors and unions, alleged corruption scandal...

An uncertain future for the Nicaragu a Canal by   Richard Arghiris   |   4th December 2015   |   @richardarghiris 12 SOCIAL BUZZ Marchers in a protest against construction of the interoceanic canal in Nicaragua. Photo: AP Photo/Esteban Felix Construction of the controversial Nicaragua Canal has been postponed until late 2016, prompting doubts about its future. According to a statement from the canal’s builders, the Hong Kong Nicaragua Development Company (HKND), the heavy engineering work of channel dredging and lock-building has been delayed to allow ‘fine-tuning’ of the canal’s design. Construction of the port of Brito – the canal’s planned Pacific coast terminus, also slated for development as a free trade zone – will proceed early next year, however. Economic issues Doubts about the canal are grounded in wider economic uncertainty. The lion’s share of financing for the $50 billion transoceanic canal appears to have come from o...

Nicaragua’s Momotombo volcano erupts for 1st time in 110 yrs (PHOTOS, VIDEOS) Published time: 3 Dec, 2015 15:44 Get short URL Lava flows from the Momotombo volcano during an eruption as seen from Papalonal village, Nicaragua, December 2, 2015. © Reuters 134 1 Nicaragua's landmark Momotobo volcano has erupted for the first time in 110 years, spitting lava and sending plumes of smoke into the sky to the delight of social media users worldwide. The last time the volcano erupted was in 1905, and up until then it was one of the most active volcanoes in the country, producing 10 eruptions between 1849 and 1905. As long ago as 1610, an eruption by Momotombo forced the inhabitants of nearby León, the then-capital, to relocate about 30 miles west. In 2007, the hydrothermal system in Momotombo’s summit crater began to heat up, so this latest eruption may well be a result of nearly 10 years of magmatic activity. READ MORE Colima volcano erupts spectacularly i...

Crack Could Delay Panama Canal Expansion, Spokesman Says November 27, 2015  by  Reuters A crack seen in the “step”, or sill, of lockhead 3 (LH3), dividing the middle chamber from the lower chamber of the new Cocoli Lock complex on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – The expansion of the Panama canal could face a new delay due to cracks that emerged a few months ago in one of the locks, a spokesman for the waterway’s authority said on Thursday. The consortium leading the construction project – led by Italy’s Salini Impregilo and Spain’s Sacyr – expects to finish repairing the cracks by mid-January, but it has not given a new date for completing the work, the Panama Canal Authority said. RELATED:  Close-Up Look at the Panama Canal Crack The consortium is trying “to minimize the impact on the final handover, planned for April next year,” the canal authority said in a statement. The Panama Canal’s current expansion plan was or...