The Panama Canal Authority -ACP- has awarded the contract for the construction of its Pacific access channel to a joint venture partnering FCC Construcción with ICA and MECO, within the framework of the location of the third set of locks at Miraflores. The contract is worth 187 million euro and has a total completion period of 43 months.

The work consists in the construction of 3.7 kilometres of 200-metre-wide approach channel to the Pacific locks, and it encompasses the excavation, transport and disposal of approximately 27 million cubic metres of mostly rocky material.

Due to the presence of water at levels above the maximum excavation depth, a pumping system will be installed during the excavation process. The installation of systems for draining surface and underground water is envisaged, as is the administration and implementation of environmental controls.

Also included is the installation of a containment structure comprising over 1.5 kilometres of cellular cofferdams to enable the construction of a 2.9-kilometre-long clay core/rock fill dam with a riprap crest wall to a height of 30 metres above the channel, with an overall volume of 6 million cubic metres.