While post-Panamax ships boost the global economy by moving goods through the Panama Canal's third set of locks, a striking new cable-stayed bridge will support local business by transporting materials overland. The 1,050-meter-long third crossing over the canal has a 530-m-long main span that, when completed in 2016, will be the longest in the world for a four-lane concrete cable-stayed structure. It will provide a vital link between the seaport city of Colón and communities such as Bocas del Toro, a popular tourist destination.
Ever since the canal was built, a swing bridge has been the only way to cross the existing canal by road on the Atlantic Ocean side, says Oscar I. Soto Reyes, project supervisor with the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). "But once the third set of locks is completed, the road will not exist anymore."