MILAN, 15-6-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — The waters of Gatun Lake began flooding the new canal in Panama on the side of the Atlantic Ocean. This manoeuvre, conducted successfully today, was the first important stress-test to date of the Third Set of Locks, which is being built on the Central American isthmus by an international consortium led at the operational level by Salini Impregilo. The same test will be conducted on the other system of locks on the Pacific side at the end of the month.
The opening of the valves is the first phase of the flooding of the locks to try out the Italian-built sluice gates and the electromechanical system. By the first half of 2016, they will regulate the passage of ships between the Atlantic and Pacific thanks to a synchronicity between the gates lasting less than five minutes for each one – a manoeuvre that will repeat itself 24 hours a day, 365 days a year once the project is complete. During the next three to four months, further tests will be conducted on the system of locks that opens onto the Atlantic.
“The initial flooding of the locks of the new Panama Canal is a historic moment for all of us. At this moment, it’s without a doubt the most complex project in the world from an engineering point of view,” said Pietro Salini, chief executive of Salini Impregilo. “It’s a $5 billion project of extraordinary significance not only at the technical level but also for the impact that it will have on global trade.”
The Third Set of Locks is the biggest engineering project in the world in decades whose numbers are without equal. The new canal will allow for the transit of ships that are nearly 400 meters long with a capacity of up to 14,000 containers – or 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) – three times the amount carried by ships that pass through the existing canal. The project has seen the excavation of 50 million metric cubes of earth, the pouring of five million metric cubes of concrete, the use of 290,000 tonnes of iron and the work of more than 10,000 workers. The giant sluice doors are – on average –about 30 meters tall, 10 meters wide and 58 meters long. Each weighs more than 3,000 tonnes.
In order to sail across the Gatun Lake located some 27 meters higher than level of either ocean, the ships enter this ideal hydraulic lift consisting of three chambers fitted with a system of sliding sluice gates. Each chamber is 55 meters high, 427 meters long and 18.3 meters deep.
The new canal will be used by supertankers that carry up to three million barrels of oil, transforming it into the passageway for half of the world’s black gold. It will allow these ships – known as post-Panamax – to avoid having to spend a month and 20,000 kilometers of circumnavigation. In a mere eight hours, they will be able to pass from one ocean to the other.
The Third Set of Locks is also an example in sustainability. To preserve the lake, large basins have been dug alongside each set of locks to reuse the water taken from the lake to fill each chamber. In this way, about 60% of the water is saved, reducing the amount required to about 200 million liters from 500 million liters.
With the new canal, Panama will double the income it gets from the tolls, which at the moment total some $2.5 billion dollars a year. It is also bound to give a boost to tourism. In 2014, Panama saw record 982,392 tourists come to admire the working of the existing canal. This number is bound to increase with the opening of the new canal.
Corporate Identity and Communication
Luigi Vianello
Tel. +39 06 6776 26 595
Email: l.vianello@salini-impregilo.com
Business Communication
Angela Randolph
Tel. +39 06 6776 26 412
Email: a.randolph@salini-impregilo.com
- Digi Communications NV announces Investors Call for the presentation of the 2024 Preliminary Financial Results
- Reuters webinar: Omnibus regulation Reuters post-analysis
- Patients as Partners® Europe Launches the 9th Annual Event with 2025 Keynotes, Featured Speakers and Topics
- eVTOLUTION: Pioneering the Future of Urban Air Mobility
- Reuters webinar: Effective Sustainability Data Governance
- Las acusaciones de fraude contra Ricardo Salinas no son nuevas: una perspectiva histórica sobre los problemas legales del multimillonario
- Digi Communications N.V. Announces the release of the Financial Calendar for 2025
- USA Court Lambasts Ricardo Salinas Pliego For Contempt Of Court Order
- 3D Electronics: A New Frontier of Product Differentiation, Thinks IDTechEx
- Ringier Axel Springer Polska Faces Lawsuit for Over PLN 54 million
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the availability of the report on corporate income tax information for the financial year ending December 31, 2023
- Unlocking the Multi-Million-Dollar Opportunities in Quantum Computing
- Digi Communications N.V. Announces the Conclusion of Facilities Agreements by Companies within Digi Group
- The Hidden Gem of Deep Plane Facelifts
- KAZANU: Redefining Naturist Hospitality in Saint Martin ↗️
- New IDTechEx Report Predicts Regulatory Shifts Will Transform the Electric Light Commercial Vehicle Market
- Almost 1 in 4 Planes Sold in 2045 to be Battery Electric, Finds IDTechEx Sustainable Aviation Market Report
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the release of Q3 2024 financial results
- Digi Communications NV announces Investors Call for the presentation of the Q3 2024 Financial Results
- Pilot and Electriq Global announce collaboration to explore deployment of proprietary hydrogen transport, storage and power generation technology
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding by its subsidiary in Romania
- Digi Communications N.V. announces that the Company’s Portuguese subsidiary finalised the transaction with LORCA JVCO Limited
- Digi Communications N.V. announces that the Portuguese Competition Authority has granted clearance for the share purchase agreement concluded by the Company’s subsidiary in Portugal
- OMRON Healthcare introduceert nieuwe bloeddrukmeters met AI-aangedreven AFib-detectietechnologie; lancering in Europa september 2024
- OMRON Healthcare dévoile de nouveaux tensiomètres dotés d’une technologie de détection de la fibrillation auriculaire alimentée par l’IA, lancés en Europe en septembre 2024
- OMRON Healthcare presenta i nuovi misuratori della pressione sanguigna con tecnologia di rilevamento della fibrillazione atriale (AFib) basata sull’IA, in arrivo in Europa a settembre 2024
- OMRON Healthcare presenta los nuevos tensiómetros con tecnología de detección de fibrilación auricular (FA) e inteligencia artificial (IA), que se lanzarán en Europa en septiembre de 2024
- Alegerile din Moldova din 2024: O Bătălie pentru Democrație Împotriva Dezinformării
- Northcrest Developments launches design competition to reimagine 2-km former airport Runway into a vibrant pedestrianized corridor, shaping a new era of placemaking on an international scale
- The Road to Sustainable Electric Motors for EVs: IDTechEx Analyzes Key Factors
- Infrared Technology Breakthroughs Paving the Way for a US$500 Million Market, Says IDTechEx Report
- MegaFair Revolutionizes the iGaming Industry with Skill-Based Games
- European Commission Evaluates Poland’s Media Adherence to the Right to be Forgotten
- Global Race for Autonomous Trucks: Europe a Critical Region Transport Transformation
- Digi Communications N.V. confirms the full redemption of €450,000,000 Senior Secured Notes
- AT&T Obtiene Sentencia Contra Grupo Salinas Telecom, Propiedad de Ricardo Salinas, Sus Abogados se Retiran Mientras Él Mueve Activos Fuera de EE.UU. para Evitar Pagar la Sentencia
- Global Outlook for the Challenging Autonomous Bus and Roboshuttle Markets
- Evolving Brain-Computer Interface Market More Than Just Elon Musk’s Neuralink, Reports IDTechEx
- Latin Trails Wraps Up a Successful 3rd Quarter with Prestigious LATA Sustainability Award and Expands Conservation Initiatives ↗️
- Astor Asset Management 3 Ltd leitet Untersuchung für potenzielle Sammelklage gegen Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego von Grupo ELEKTRA wegen Marktmanipulation und Wertpapierbetrug ein
- Digi Communications N.V. announces that the Company’s Romanian subsidiary exercised its right to redeem the Senior Secured Notes due in 2025 in principal amount of €450,000,000
- Astor Asset Management 3 Ltd Inicia Investigación de Demanda Colectiva Contra Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego de Grupo ELEKTRA por Manipulación de Acciones y Fraude en Valores
- Astor Asset Management 3 Ltd Initiating Class Action Lawsuit Inquiry Against Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego of Grupo ELEKTRA for Stock Manipulation & Securities Fraud
- Digi Communications N.V. announced that its Spanish subsidiary, Digi Spain Telecom S.L.U., has completed the first stage of selling a Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) network in 12 Spanish provinces
- Natural Cotton Color lancia la collezione "Calunga" a Milano
- Astor Asset Management 3 Ltd: Salinas Pliego Incumple Préstamo de $110 Millones USD y Viola Regulaciones Mexicanas
- Astor Asset Management 3 Ltd: Salinas Pliego Verstößt gegen Darlehensvertrag über 110 Mio. USD und Mexikanische Wertpapiergesetze
- ChargeEuropa zamyka rundę finansowania, której przewodził fundusz Shift4Good tym samym dokonując historycznej francuskiej inwestycji w polski sektor elektromobilności
- Strengthening EU Protections: Robert Szustkowski calls for safeguarding EU citizens’ rights to dignity
- Digi Communications NV announces the release of H1 2024 Financial Results
- Digi Communications N.V. announces that conditional stock options were granted to a director of the Company’s Romanian Subsidiary
- Digi Communications N.V. announces Investors Call for the presentation of the H1 2024 Financial Results
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the conclusion of a share purchase agreement by its subsidiary in Portugal
- Digi Communications N.V. Announces Rating Assigned by Fitch Ratings to Digi Communications N.V.
- Digi Communications N.V. announces significant agreements concluded by the Company’s subsidiaries in Spain
- SGW Global Appoints Telcomdis as the Official European Distributor for Motorola Nursery and Motorola Sound Products
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the availability of the instruction regarding the payment of share dividend for the 2023 financial year
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the exercise of conditional share options by the executive directors of the Company, for the year 2023, as approved by the Company’s Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meetings from 18th May 2021 and 28th December 2022
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the granting of conditional stock options to Executive Directors of the Company based on the general shareholders’ meeting approval from 25 June 2024
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the OGMS resolutions and the availability of the approved 2023 Annual Report
- Czech Composer Tatiana Mikova Presents Her String Quartet ‘In Modo Lidico’ at Carnegie Hall
- SWIFTT: A Copernicus-based forest management tool to map, mitigate, and prevent the main threats to EU forests
- WickedBet Unveils Exciting Euro 2024 Promotion with Boosted Odds
- Museum of Unrest: a new space for activism, art and design
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the conclusion of a Senior Facility Agreement by companies within Digi Group
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the agreements concluded by Digi Romania (formerly named RCS & RDS S.A.), the Romanian subsidiary of the Company
- Green Light for Henri Hotel, Restaurants and Shops in the “Alter Fischereihafen” (Old Fishing Port) in Cuxhaven, opening Summer 2026
- Digi Communications N.V. reports consolidated revenues and other income of EUR 447 million, adjusted EBITDA (excluding IFRS 16) of EUR 140 million for Q1 2024
- Digi Communications announces the conclusion of Facilities Agreements by companies from Digi Group
- Digi Communications N.V. Announces the convocation of the Company’s general shareholders meeting for 25 June 2024 for the approval of, among others, the 2023 Annual Report
- Digi Communications NV announces Investors Call for the presentation of the Q1 2024 Financial Results
- Digi Communications intends to propose to shareholders the distribution of dividends for the fiscal year 2023 at the upcoming General Meeting of Shareholders, which shall take place in June 2024
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the availability of the Romanian version of the 2023 Annual Report
- Digi Communications N.V. announces the availability of the 2023 Annual Report
- International Airlines Group adopts Airline Economics by Skailark ↗️
- BevZero Spain Enhances Sustainability Efforts with Installation of Solar Panels at Production Facility
- Digi Communications N.V. announces share transaction made by an Executive Director of the Company with class B shares
- BevZero South Africa Achieves FSSC 22000 Food Safety Certification
- Digi Communications N.V.: Digi Spain Enters Agreement to Sell FTTH Network to International Investors for Up to EUR 750 Million
- Patients as Partners® Europe Announces the Launch of 8th Annual Meeting with 2024 Keynotes and Topics
- driveMybox continues its international expansion: Hungary as a new strategic location
- Monesave introduces Socialised budgeting: Meet the app quietly revolutionising how users budget
- Digi Communications NV announces the release of the 2023 Preliminary Financial Results
- Digi Communications NV announces Investors Call for the presentation of the 2023 Preliminary Financial Results
- Lensa, един от най-ценените търговци на оптика в Румъния, пристига в България. Първият шоурум е открит в София
- Criando o futuro: desenvolvimento da AENO no mercado de consumo em Portugal
- Digi Communications N.V. Announces the release of the Financial Calendar for 2024
- Customer Data Platform Industry Attracts New Participants: CDP Institute Report
- eCarsTrade annonce Dirk Van Roost au poste de Directeur Administratif et Financier: une décision stratégique pour la croissance à venir
- BevZero Announces Strategic Partnership with TOMSA Desil to Distribute equipment for sustainability in the wine industry, as well as the development of Next-Gen Dealcoholization technology
- Editor's pick archive....