Panama Canal Issues Notice to Proceed to Build Bridge

 On January 8, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) issued the notice to proceed to VINCI Construction Grands Projets to build a bridge on the Atlantic side of the Canal.

The company has 1,274 construction days to complete the bridge. The contract was awarded in October 2012. VINCI Construction Grands Projets, a French company, offered the lowest price, below the official budget, in a public tender. The Brazilian-Korean joint venture Odebrecht – Hyundai and the Spanish-Mexican consortium Acciona – TRADECO also participated in the tender process.

All the documentation presented was thoroughly analyzed by an evaluating committee formed by Canal specialists. They reviewed the technical aspects and previous experience, as well as the financial capacity of the winning company.
ACP awarded the bid for the construction of the new bridge under Article 3 of Law 28 of July 17, 2006 – the legislation under which the construction of the third set of locks for the Panama Canal was authorized. That legislation mandated the construction of a road bridge on the Atlantic side to link both canal banks. This bridge will foster the development of Colon province.

The bridge design is inspired on similar infrastructure work in countries such as Spain, Korea, France, China and Japan. The double-plane, twin pylon, cable-stayed bridge will feature two lanes of traffic in each direction. Its length will be 4.6 kilometers and it will stand 75 meters above sea level. The bridge will be built with reinforced concrete.