For the past six weeks the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has been negotiating a reported $1.6 billion in cost overruns with the contractor building the locks for the waterway's Third Lane Expansion. On Feb. 5, the contractor consortium, Grupo Unidos Por el Canal (GUPC), stopped work on the project, citing a breakdown in negotiations that threatens the original mid-2015 completion date of the $5.2 billion project. GUPC consists of Spanish construction firm Sacyr Vallehermoso S.A., Italy’s Impregilo S.p.A., Jan De Nul n.v. of The Netherlands and Panama's Constructora Urbana S.A.
ACP Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano, an industrial engineer who has headed the expansion since it began, spoke at length to ENR about the project status and its current options. He reiterated the intention to complete the project by its planned finishing date next year “with or without the assistance of the contractor.”