Panama Canal Channel Deepening Project
The Gatun Lake channel deepening project -- a program initiated by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in 2002 -- is aimed at maintaining the existing levels of reliability. The deepening will augment the Canal's total water reservoir volume, which includes Gatun and Alhajuela or Madden Lakes, by 25 percent. This will allow for a more efficient draft administration and will reduce the impact of water shortages on shipping during periodic droughts and climactic phenomena like El Niño. Nearly 60 percent of this project has already been completed, ahead of schedule and within budget. When completed, the deepening will provide an additional meter (3.29 feet) of water storage, which represents a 25 percent increase in water storage capacity. This project will be completed in the first half 2008.
Approximately 6.7 million cubic meters will be dredged at a cost of $110 million, below the original estimate of $190 million. The ACP Board of Directors approved the channel deepening to enhance the Panama Canal's capacity well into this century.
The project is also required due to the increasing demands caused by growing populations adjacent to the Canal watershed (Panama, Colon, Arraijan and Chorrera). The ACP is also implementing more rigorous water conservation and management measures.
Long-term traffic forecasts have also indicated that the number of ships transiting the waterway could nearly double that of current yearly average (14,000 transits) in the next 50 years. Vessels transiting the Panama Canal navigate through fresh water, 52 million gallons of which are spilled with every transit.
The Canal total watershed output (including Gatun and Alhajuela or Madden Lakes) will augment by 300 million gallons of water per day. Although the three-feet deepening will only be done along the navigational channel, it will increase the lake's entire surface storage area, which represents a greater volume than what will be excavated.
The current water storage of Gatun Lake is two meters (six feet), from its maximum 26.7 meters (87.5 feet) above sea level up to its minimum operating level of 24.8 meters (81.5 feet).
Canal elevations are calculated in relation to the Precise Level Data (PLD). PLD refers to 0.3 meters under the average sea level, on the Pacific entrance of the Canal, and 0.06 meters under the average sea level on the Atlantic entrance. The bottom of the Panama Canal navigational channel has a width between 192 and 305 meters.
The bottom of the navigational channel is currently at 11.3 meters (37 feet) above the PLD, but when the deepening work is completed, it will be at 10.4 meters (34 feet). To guarantee that the Canal's minimum elevation above the PLD is 10.4 meters, it will be dredged to an elevation of 9.8 meters (32 feet) above the PLD, known as dredging tolerance.
The deepening will be completed using available ACP resources. The project will require drilling and blasting for rock material. For this project, the ACP's drillboat Thor, hydraulic dredge Mindi and dipper dredge Rialto M. Christensen will be employed.
Updated: 31-Mar-2008
