A construction consortium from Spain, Mexico and Costa Rica has outbid three other competitors for the second-largest contract awarded in the Panama Canal’s $5.2-billion Third Lane Expansion effort, eclipsed only by the price tag for design and construction of the waterway’s new locks.

Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas S.A., along with Mexico’s Empresas ICA and Constructora MECO of Costa Rica, submitted a bid of $268 million for the fourth and final contract to construct a 6.7-kilometer-long access channel on the canal’s Pacific side. Also submitting were a team led by Panama City-based ISC Panamá, which bid $295 million; Belgian dredging firm Jan de Nul and China’s CHEC, which bid $359 million; and one from Brazilian contractor Odebrecht at $380 million.