Photos Courtesy Panama Canal Authority Work on the new Atlantic locks for the Panama Canal expansion comes to a complete standstill on Feb. 5 after the contractor orders all workers and subcontractors to go home. In an interview with ENR, Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano says: "We are not closing the door but [contractors] are leaving us with very little room to maneuver." Related Links: ENR Editorial: High Stakes Brinkmanship at the Panama Canal Panama Canal Work Halts As Cost Dispute Talks Break Down Archive of Statements Issued by Two Sides in Panama Canal Dispute For the past six weeks the
Photo by C.J. Schexnayder for ENR Huge gates set for insert into canal "slots" remain to be installed. Related Links: Two Sides in Panama Canal Cost Dispute Harden Their Positions Panama Canal Teams Negotiate Cost Overrun Dispute Archive of Statements Issued by Two Sides in Panama Canal Dispute The $5.2-billion expansion of the Panama Canal came to a halt on Feb. 5 after negotiations between the contractor and the project owner over cost overruns broke down late the night before.Grupo Unidos por El Canal (GUPC), a consortium led by Spanish construction firm Sacyr Vallehermoso S.A., turned away thousands of workers
Photo courtesy of ACP Installation of huge gates for the canal's new locks are among the project's disputes. Can the owner and contractor resolve cost issues, or will other firms end up managing that installation? The Jan. 20 deadline for a work stoppage on the $5.2-billion Panama Canal expansion came and went without any halt to project activity, but the crisis over an alleged $1.6 billion in cost overruns remains unsettled and has slowed progress.Contractor Grupo Unidos Por el Canal (GUPC) now proposes that it and owner Panama Canal Authority "co-finance" the disputed costs, until their responsibility is decided by
Photo by C.J. Schexnayder for ENR Contractors and owner in $5.2-billion Panama Canal locks expansion are in dispute over how to resolve cost overruns. Related Links: Panama Canal Construction Teams Negotiate Cost Overrun Dispute Archive of Statements Issued by Two Sides Since Dispute Began Less than a day after both sides pledged to work together to resolve a disagreement threatening to stop work on the $5.2-billion Panama Canal Third Lane Expansion, project owner the Panama Canal Authority and Grupo Unidos por El Canal, its joint-venture contractor, once again hardened their stances on the cost overrun dispute.In a Jan. 8 statement,
Photo for ENR by C.J. Schexnayder Concrete terms? Contractors and canal officials differ over responsibility for quality of aggregate used for the project's concrete. Related Links: Arrival of Gates Marks Milestone in Panama Canal Expansion Panama Canal Contractor Files $573-Million Claim In an effort to avoid a threatened shutdown of work on the $5.2-billion expansion of the Panama Canal, the authority that oversees the historic waterway proposed a joint financing scheme to its construction team on Jan. 7 to cover cost overruns. But it is not clear whether a short-term deal will keep building progress on track.Officials of the Panama
