Save the Cruces Trail and Panama Canal Watershed

Home     Economy     Two new sets of cracks in the new PanCanal locks Economy Two new sets of cracks in the new PanCanal locks November 11, 2015 0 Share on Facebook   Tweet on Twitter     Why is a construction problem that yields this concrete core sample being called a design flaw? Because if it is properly diagnosed as a bad concrete pour and properly resolved by tearing out the faulty concrete and redoing the work, that would cause major new delays and probably bankrupt construction companies in Spain, Italy and Panama and possibly some of their suppliers, insurers and lenders as well. Calling it a design flaw allows for a quicker, cheaper and shorter-lasting fix and for those responsible for the bad concrete to litigate with designers in an attempt to pass off some of the costs of their mistake to others. New cracks in the new locks as the ACP looks for new revenue sources by Eric Jackson La Estrella...

TECH   PANAMA CANAL The New Panama Canal Is Leaking Water—And Money by    David Z. Morris @davidzmorris NOVEMBER 2, 2015, 10:15 AM EST E-mail   Tweet   Facebook   Linkedin Share icons As the opening date for the Panama Canal expansion has been delayed several times, merchant ships must continue using the old Pacific-Atlantic link. Photograph by Rodrigo Arangua — AFP/Getty Images Cracked concrete may further slow down expansion project, which has already faced major hurdles. As early as August,  grim videos  emerged showing water streaming through cracked concrete at the Pacific end of the ongoing Panama Canal expansion project. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has since acknowledged that leaks developed during stress testing of the new locks. ACP tentatively stated that the leak won’t cause further delays, but samples taken from the massive concrete structure have shown apparently serious problems , an...

Home     Economy     GUPC: both sets of locks poorly designed, pins and glue fix suggested Economy News GUPC: both sets of locks poorly designed, pins and glue fix suggested September 30, 2015 0 Share on Facebook   Tweet on Twitter     What neither the ACP nor Panama’s rabiblanco media want to mention is that Alberto Alemán Zubieta’s family owns one of the companies in the GUPC consortium that was awarded the locks design and construction contract by way of a lowball bid. Alemán Zubieta was CEO of that company, Constructora Urbana SA (CUSA) just before he became canal administator. Graphic by the ACP. La Prensa reports that the GUPC consortium submitted an interim report on the leaking locks on September 25 GUPC says both sets of locks are badly designed, suggests cement and more rebar by Eric Jackson Bechtel reps state a consortium cannot even “pour the concrete” for $3.1 billion and hinted even their $...

Nicaragua says planned canal will cut sailing time for mega-ships Published September 22, 2015 EFE Building an inter-oceanic canal crossing Nicaragua "is closer than ever" and will markedly reduce travel time and costs for mega-ships, a Nicaraguan senior official said here Tuesday. "The aim is to convert Nicaragua into an international maritime transport center for mega-ships that will be mainly responsible for maritime transport in the near future," Paul Oquist, executive director of the Nicaragua Grand Canal Commission, said during an event at the Council of the Americas in Washington. Once completed, he emphasized, the time needed for one of these ships to sail from New Jersey to Shanghai will be reduced to two weeks, given that mega-ships are too big to transit the Panama Canal and currently have to sail around the southern tip of South America. In his speech, Oquist emphasized Nicaragua's solid macroeconomic situation with annual economic...

10 Things You Didn't Know About the Panama Canal Posted:  09/21/2015 1:22 pm EDT  Updated:  09/21/2015 1:59 pm EDT Share 43 Tweet 110 0 Comment 13   A ship prepares to pass through the Miraflores Locks. You may think you know all about the Panama Canal thanks to middle school social studies. Most people know that the Canal was built across the isthmus of Panama to save ships from having to go all the way around South America to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. In fact, you may even know it only takes 8-10 hours for a ship to pass through the canal's three locks, known as the Miraflores, the Pedro Miguel and the Gatún. Even more impressively, you may not have just Googled "isthmus." Still, as I learned on a recent trip to Panama, there's a lot more to the story of the Panama Canal than you probably know. See if you knew any of these ten facts: 1. The Panama Canal couldn't be built the same way as the Suez ...

Panama Canal investigates seepage at new lock 10 Investigations are under way after tests of the new locks for the Panama Canal detected some seepage. Above:  Testing began in June Filling of the new locks began in June, marking the start of a phase of operational testing of the locks, including culvert valves, maintenance bulkheads and gates. As part of this testing, some water seepage was detected at the new Pacific Locks in a section that separates the middle chamber and lower chamber. The seepage was found during stress-testing through exposure to level differentials much higher than those required for normal operations, but that may occur during dry-chamber maintenance works in the future. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is now awaiting a formal report from the contractor Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) following detailed inspections. The report will analyse the root cause, as well as the recommended repair methodology. ACP will then assess if the pro...