Third in a three-part series on Panama’s first-world aspirations
PANAMA CITY, Panama – The Panama Canal, completed in 1914, is perhaps the greatest engineering feat of all time. “A Man, A Plan, A Canal – Panama,” is perhaps the greatest palindrome of all time. And now, the $5.2 billion canal-expansion project, which just broke ground and is scheduled to be completed in time to mark the 100th anniversary of the canal in 2014, is perhaps the greatest remodeling project of all time.
The expansion of the world’s most important commercial route consists of building a third set of locks that are 40 percent longer and 60 percent wider than the original locks, allowing the Panama Canal to double its shipping capacity by 2025.
Times have changed the way the project is being planned and executed. Whereas the first lock system was built based on 20th century navigation experience, today engineers from all over the world are collaborating on developing complex, three-dimensional design models based on new technologies and sophisticated water-use studies.
Panama’s tropical environment, once considered an obstacle to progress, is now viewed as key to making the project sustainable for the next 100 years.
And basic advances in hygiene, health and safety have essentially eliminated the threats of malaria and yellow fever, which claimed tens of thousands of lives during construction of the original canal.
Jorge de la Guardia, head engineer and executive manager of the new Locks Project Management Division, said the Panama Canal’s success over the past century can e credited as much to good luck as good engineering.
“Everything about the original canal and the decisions that were made worked in many cases thanks to lots of luck,” De la Guardia told The Nica Times during a recent interview in his office inside the Panama Canal Authority.
For example, the head engineer said, the fact that the lock system has three chambers instead of two prevents – quite unintentionally – the intrusion of salty ocean water into the fresh water of Lake Gatun, which serves as the main source of drinking water for Panama City.
Diluted ocean water filters through the first two chambers of the lock system when a ship is being lifted to the level of the GatunLake, 26 meters above sea level. But by the third chamber, the fresh water from the lake flushes out the remaining salt water before it can reach the lake, De la Guardia said.
“That wasn’t by design,” De la Guardia said.
The engineer said the original designs had nothing to do with environmental concerns or water-quality considerations.
“But it turned out well,” he said, adding that the saline level of Lake Gatun remains “basically unperceptible” after almost a century of canal use.
This time around, however, engineers are not leaving the environment to chance. De la Guardia says the design of the new lock system is very deliberate about protecting the environment and conserving Panama’s natural resources as much as possible.
“This time everything is very scientific,” the engineer said. “We have done very profound studies of water quality and we are developing a new three-dimensional model to monitor the quality of water in Lake Gatun.”
If there is any measured increase in the lake’s saline content from the new locks, the whole system can be flushed and cleaned, De la Guardia said.
The Need for New Locks
Before the 1960s, virtually every commercial ship on the seas could fit though the Panama Canal, whose locks measure 1,000 feet long (305 meters) and 110 feet wide (33.5 meters). But as shipping companies started building larger tankers and cargo freighters, the term “Post-Panamax” was coined to describe ships that are too big to fit through the canal.
Today, Post-Panamax ships still represent a minority of all ships plying the oceans (less than 5% of all shipping trade). But since the Panama Canal Authority announced expansion plans four years ago, new shipping orders are already being placed based on the new dimensions of the third locks (1,400 feet long, 180 feet wide), De la Guardia said.
The expanded dimensions have already been dubbed the “New Panamax” and have become the new standard measurement for ship makers, De La Guardia said. Though there is at least one make of ship that’s too big for the new locks, “that ship has already lost value because it won’t be able to use the new canal,” the engineer said.
The “New Panamax” freighter can carry 12,000 containers, or roughly three times the cargo load of a largest ship that can currently fit through the canal. The Panama Canal Authority expects that once the new locks are open and fully operational, the widened canal will handle 12 to 15 New Panamax ships per day, in addition to the normal traffic from the old canal.
Within 25 years, Panama plans to recover the nearly $3 billion it has invested of its own money in the expansion project. The other $2.3 billion is in the form of credit from five multilateral investment agencies. Despite the rumors, China – the canal’s No. 2 client after the United States – is not one of the investors in the expansion project, according to the Panama Canal Authority.
The canal is already a proven cash cow under Panamanian management, which started when the United States handed over the canal Dec. 31, 1999. Even now, during a global recession that has reduced worldwide shipping traffic, the canal continues to turn record profits.
Last year, the Panama Canal grossed $1.4 billion in revenue, 9 percent more than in 2008. The canal’s revenue has increased each year under Panama’s management.
The most a ship has ever had to pay to use the canal is $375,600, while smaller ships pay an average of $70,000 for transit. The least expensive fare was $.36, paid by Richard Halliburton who swam the canal in 1928.
As the canal sets its sights on increasing its use in the future, the issue of water management has been a leading concern, both for environmentalists and engineers alike.
Simply put, larger ships and increased traffic means a greater strain on the water supply from ChagresRiver and the GatunLake, which represents the majority of the 80 kilometer transoceanic waterway.
Currently, the Panama Canal uses some 55 million gallons of water each time a ship passes through the locks. The canal averages 38 transits per day, for a total water consumption of more than 2 billion gallons every day.
By comparison, the entire population of Panama City consumes around 200 million gallons of water each day – about the same amount used in four canal transits.
Given the dimensions of the new lock system, the third set of locks should use 230 percent more water than the current system. But based on a German-inspired system that uses reservoir basins to reuse water from one chamber to the next, the new locks will actually reuse 60 percent of the water, and consume 7 percent less than the current lock system, according to De la Guardia.
“It’s not the cheapest solution, but it makes sure we are maximizing the use of the existing watershed without affecting other areas,” De la Guardia said. “It would have been cheaper to build a new lake, but this was the solution that was the most environmentally and socially acceptable.”
According to the canal’s 25-year planning horizon, the current watershed is sufficient to supply both the old and new lock systems running at full capacity, he said. To further reduce the canal’s environmental footprint, engineers are building the new locks on a site that was partially excavated by U.S. engineers prior to World War II.
In 1939, the United States started a project to expand the canal to move war ships from the Atlantic to Pacific and back. But when the Second World War started, the project was suspended.
“When the war ended, the U.S. didn’t need to expand the canal anymore because they already had fleets of warships in both oceans,” De la Guardia said.
But the footprint of those early excavation sites remain, and are being used as a guide for the new canal expansion project, the engineer said.
“On the Pacific side, the locks are going to be built right next to where the U.S. was going to build its new locks, and on the Atlantic side, the locks are going exactly where the U.S. was going to put them. So the area has already been intervened,” De la Guardia said.
Still, he said, animals found in the area have been relocated to other protected forests, and architectural artifacts turned over the ministry of culture.
‘Vote of Confidence’
Aside from the future economic benefits of handling increased shipping, the canal expansion is also helping Panama survive the global economic crisis by creating a massive public works project and bolstering the country’s image as safe place to invest. At its peak, the expansion project will employ 7,000 workers, paying salaries well above Panama’s minimum wage. And the fact that five multilateral investment organizations decided to invest in the government project has given the private sector 2.3 billion reasons to feel secure about investing in Panama.
“For these five animals to invest $2.3 billion here shows that Panama is a very safe place,” De la Guardia said. “This gives other investors a lot of confidence. You see the buildings that they are putting up here – they keep building and building.”
The Panama Canal Authority also keeps building and building. Though they are only now breaking ground on the third locks, De la Guardia says a second future expansion is not out of the question.
“We are building the third lane but we are already thinking of the fourth lane,” De la Guardia said.
Mfereji wa Panama, uliojengwa mwaka 1914, labda ndio mradi mkubwa zaidi wa uhandisi kuwahi kufanywa. <unk>A Man, A Plan, A Canal <unk> Panama, <unk> labda ni palindrome kubwa ya wakati wote. Mradi wa kupanua mfereji huo wa dola bilioni 5.2 ambao umepangwa kukamilika kwa ajili ya maadhimisho ya miaka 100 ya ujenzi wa mfereji huo, umekamilika. Upanishaji wa njia muhimu zaidi ya kibiashara ulimwenguni unahusisha ujenzi wa seti ya tatu ya kufuli ambazo ni 40 kwa asilimia kwa urefu na 60 kwa asilimia kwa upana kuliko kufuli za awali, kuruhusu Mfereji wa Panama kuongeza uwezo wake wa usafirishaji mara mbili ifikapo 2025. Nyakati zimebadilika jinsi mradi huo unavyopangwa na kutekelezwa. Ingawa mfumo wa kwanza wa kufuli ulijengwa kulingana na uzoefu wa usafiri wa karne ya 20, leo wahandisi kutoka kote ulimwenguni wanashirikiana katika kuendeleza mifano tata ya muundo wa tatu kulingana na teknolojia mpya na masomo ya matumizi ya maji. Mazingira ya kitropiki ya Panama, ambayo wakati mmoja yalichukuliwa kuwa kizuizi kwa maendeleo, sasa yanaonekana kuwa muhimu kufanya mradi huo uweze kudumu kwa miaka 100 ijayo. Maendeleo ya msingi katika usafi, afya na usalama yameondoa vitisho vya malaria na homa ya manjano, ambayo ilichukua maelfu ya maisha wakati wa ujenzi wa mfereji wa awali. Jorge de la Guardia, mhandisi mkuu na meneja mtendaji wa Idara mpya ya Usimamizi wa Mradi wa Locks, alisema mafanikio ya Mfereji wa Panama katika karne iliyopita yanaweza kupewa sifa ya bahati nzuri kama uhandisi mzuri. "Kila kitu kuhusu mfereji wa awali na maamuzi yaliyofanywa yalifanya kazi katika kesi nyingi shukrani kwa bahati nyingi, "De la Guardia aliiambia The Nica Times wakati wa mahojiano ya hivi karibuni katika ofisi yake ndani ya Mamlaka ya Mfereji wa Panama. Kwa mfano, mkuu wa mhandisi alisema, ukweli kwamba mfumo wa kufuli ina vyumba vitatu badala ya mbili huzuia - kabisa unintentionally - kuingiliwa kwa maji ya bahari chumvi katika maji safi ya Ziwa Gatún, ambayo hutumika kama chanzo kikuu cha maji ya kunywa kwa Panama City. Maji ya bahari ya maji ya bahari hupitia vyumba viwili vya kwanza vya mfumo wa kufuli wakati meli inapopandishwa hadi kiwango cha Ziwa Gatun, mita 26 juu ya usawa wa bahari. "Kwa upande mwingine, maji safi kutoka ziwa hilo huondoa maji ya chumvi yaliyobaki kabla ya kufikia ziwa hilo, ""De la Guardia alisema." "Hilo halikukusudiwa", De la Guardia akasema. Mhandisi huyo alisema kwamba miundo ya awali haikuwa na uhusiano wowote na masuala ya mazingira au ubora wa maji. "Lakini ilitokea vizuri", alisema, akiongeza kwamba kiwango cha chumvi cha Ziwa Gatun bado "kimsingi haijulikani" baada ya karibu karne moja ya matumizi ya mfereji. Hata hivyo, wakati huu, wahandisi hawaiachi mazingira kwa bahati mbaya. De la Guardia anasema muundo wa mfumo mpya wa kufuli ni wa makusudi sana kuhusu kulinda mazingira na kuhifadhi rasilimali za asili za Panama kadiri iwezekanavyo. "Wakati huu kila kitu ni kisayansi sana", mhandisi huyo akasema. "Tumefanya utafiti wa kina sana wa ubora wa maji na tunaendeleza mfano mpya wa pande tatu wa kufuatilia ubora wa maji katika Ziwa Gatun. ""Ikiwa kuna ongezeko lolote la chumvi katika ziwa kutoka kwa kufuli mpya, mfumo mzima unaweza kuondolewa na kusafishwa, ""De la Guardia alisema." Kabla ya miaka ya 1960, karibu meli zote za kibiashara zilikuwa na uwezo wa kuvuka Mfereji wa Panama, ambao ulikuwa na urefu wa mita 305, na upana wa mita 335. Lakini kampuni za usafirishaji zilipoanza kujenga meli kubwa za kubebea mafuta na meli za kubebea mizigo, neno "Post-Panamax" lilitumiwa kuelezea meli ambazo ni kubwa sana zisizoweza kupita kwenye mfereji huo. Kwa sasa, meli za Post-Panamax bado zinawakilisha idadi ndogo ya meli zote zinazosafiri baharini (chini ya 5% ya biashara yote ya usafirishaji). "Kwa mujibu wa shirika la Panama Canal Authority, ""mfano wa kwanza wa meli ya baharini ya baharini ni ile ya tatu, ambayo ina urefu wa mita 1,400 na upana wa mita 180.""" Vipimo vilivyoongezwa tayari vimeitwa "New Panamax" na vimekuwa kipimo kipya cha kawaida kwa watengenezaji wa meli, De La Guardia alisema. Ingawa kuna angalau aina moja ya meli ambayo ni kubwa sana kwa ajili ya kufuli mpya, "ndiyo meli tayari amepoteza thamani kwa sababu itakuwa si uwezo wa kutumia mfereji mpya", alisema mhandisi. Meli hiyo mpya ya Panamax inaweza kubeba mizigo 12,000 au mara tatu zaidi ya mizigo ya meli kubwa zaidi inayoweza kupita kwenye mfereji huo. Mamlaka ya Mfereji wa Panama inatarajia kwamba mara tu kufunguliwa kwa kufuli mpya na kufanya kazi kikamilifu, mfereji uliopanuliwa utashughulikia meli 12 hadi 15 za Panamax mpya kwa siku, pamoja na trafiki ya kawaida kutoka kwa mfereji wa zamani. Katika kipindi cha miaka 25 Panama imepanga kurudisha karibu dola bilioni 3 ambazo zimewekeza katika mradi huo. Bilioni 2.3 nyingine ni kwa namna ya mikopo kutoka mashirika matano ya uwekezaji ya kimataifa. Licha ya uvumi, China <unk> mfereji <unk>s No. Mkataba wa Panama na Marekani kuhusu ujenzi wa Mfereji wa Panama (Panama Canal Authority) Mfereji huo umekuwa mkakati wa kuokoa fedha kwa nchi ya Panama tangu kupewa mamlaka na Marekani mnamo Desemba 31, 1999. Hata sasa, wakati wa mvurugo wa kiuchumi ambao umepunguza usafiri wa meli ulimwenguni pote, mfereji huo unaendelea kupata faida kubwa sana. Mwaka jana, Mfereji wa Panama ulileta mapato ya dola bilioni 1.4 - asilimia 9 zaidi ya mwaka 2008. Mapato ya mfereji huo yameongezeka kila mwaka chini ya usimamizi wa Panama. Kwa mfano, meli moja ililazimika kulipa dola 375,600 ili kutumia mfereji huo, na meli nyingine ndogo zililipa dola 70,000 kwa kutumia mfereji huo. Gari la kwanza lililokuwa na gharama ya dola milioni 36 lilitumiwa na Richard Halliburton, ambaye alisafiri kwa kuogelea kwenye mfereji huo mwaka 1928. Kama vile mfereji unaweka mtazamo wake juu ya kuongeza matumizi yake katika siku zijazo, suala la usimamizi wa maji limekuwa wasiwasi mkubwa, kwa watunza mazingira na wahandisi sawa. Kwa maneno mengine, meli kubwa na kuongezeka kwa trafiki inamaanisha shinikizo kubwa juu ya usambazaji wa maji kutoka Mto Chagres na Ziwa Gatun, ambayo inawakilisha sehemu kubwa ya njia ya maji ya bahari ya kilomita 80. Kwa sasa, Mfereji wa Panama hutumia lita milioni 55 za maji kila mara meli inapopita katika milango hiyo. Mfereji huo unafanya safari 38 kwa siku, na kwa jumla hutumia zaidi ya galoni bilioni mbili za maji kila siku. Kwa kulinganisha, idadi nzima ya watu wa Panama City hutumia karibu galoni milioni 200 za maji kila siku - karibu kiasi sawa kinachotumiwa katika njia nne za mfereji. Kwa kuzingatia ukubwa wa mfumo mpya wa kufuli, seti ya tatu ya kufuli inapaswa kutumia maji zaidi ya 230% kuliko mfumo wa sasa. "Kwa mfano, kwa kutumia mfumo wa Ujerumani wa kuchochea maji, ambayo hutumia mabwawa ya kuhifadhi maji kutoka chumba kimoja hadi kingine, kufuli mpya kwa kweli itatumia tena asilimia 60 ya maji, na itatumia asilimia 7 chini ya mfumo wa sasa wa kufuli, ""alisema De la Guardia." "Si suluhisho la bei nafuu, lakini inahakikisha kwamba tunatumia zaidi maji yaliyopo bila kuathiri maeneo mengine", De la Guardia alisema. "Ilikuwa ni rahisi kujenga ziwa jipya, lakini hii ilikuwa suluhisho la mazingira na kijamii, kulingana na upeo wa mipango ya miaka 25 ya mfereji, maji ya sasa yanatosha kusambaza mifumo ya zamani na mpya ya kufuli inayoendesha kwa uwezo kamili. """ Ili kupunguza athari za mazingira za mfereji huo, wahandisi wanajenga milango mpya kwenye eneo ambalo lilichimbuliwa na wahandisi wa Marekani kabla ya Vita vya Pili vya Ulimwengu. Mwaka 1939 Marekani ilianzisha mradi wa kupanua mfereji huo ili kuhamisha meli za vita kutoka Atlantiki hadi Pasifiki na kurudi. Lakini Vita vya Pili vya Ulimwengu vilipoanza, mradi huo ulisimamishwa. "Wakati vita vilipomalizika, Marekani haikuhitaji kupanua mfereji tena kwa sababu tayari walikuwa na meli za vita katika bahari zote mbili", De la Guardia alisema. Lakini alama za maeneo hayo ya kuchimbua mapema bado zipo, na zinatumiwa kama mwongozo kwa mradi mpya wa upanuzi wa mfereji, mhandisi huyo alisema. "Kupitia upande wa Pasifiki, kufuli hizo zitajengwa karibu na mahali ambapo Marekani ilijenga kufuli mpya, na upande wa Atlantiki, kufuli hizo zitajengwa mahali ambapo Marekani ilijenga kufuli hizo.""" Kwa hiyo eneo hilo tayari limeingiliwa, <unk> De la Guardia alisema. Hata hivyo, wanyama waliopatikana katika eneo hilo wamehamishwa hadi misitu mingine iliyohifadhiwa, na vitu vya usanifu vimepewa wizara ya utamaduni. "Kulingana na faida za kiuchumi za baadaye za kushughulikia usafirishaji ulioongezeka, upanuzi wa mfereji pia unasaidia Panama kuokoka mgogoro wa kiuchumi wa ulimwengu kwa kuunda mradi mkubwa wa kazi za umma na kuimarisha picha ya nchi kama mahali salama pa kuwekeza. """ Katika kipindi cha maendeleo, mradi huo utawaajiri wafanyakazi 7,000 ambao watapata mishahara iliyo juu sana ya kiwango cha chini cha mshahara nchini Panama. """Uamuzi wa mashirika matano ya kimataifa ya uwekezaji kuwekeza katika mradi wa serikali umetoa sababu bilioni 2.3 kwa sekta binafsi kuhisi salama kuhusu kuwekeza Panama." "Kwa wanyama hawa watano kuwekeza dola bilioni 2.3 hapa inaonyesha kwamba Panama ni mahali salama sana,"" De la Guardia alisema." <unk>Hii inatoa wawekezaji wengine imani nyingi. Unaona majengo ambayo wanaweka hapa <unk> wanaendelea kujenga na kujenga.<unk> Mamlaka ya Mfereji wa Panama pia inaendelea kujenga na kujenga. Ingawa sasa tu wanaanza kujenga milango ya tatu, De la Guardia anasema upanuzi wa pili wa wakati ujao hauwezi kutengwa. "Tunajenga barabara ya tatu lakini tayari tunafikiria barabara ya nne", De la Guardia alisema.