This successful manoeuvre was the first important stress-test to date for the third set of locks, being built on the Central American isthmus by an international consortium led by Salini Impregilo. The same test will be conducted on the other system of locks on the Pacific side at the end of the month.
The opening of the valves to let in water from Gatun Lake is the first phase of the flooding of the locks to try out the Italian-built sluice gates and the electromechanical system. By the first half of 2016, they will regulate the passage of ships between the Atlantic and Pacific. During the next three to four months, further tests will be carried out.
“The initial flooding of the locks of the new Panama Canal is a historic moment for all of us,” said Pietro Salini, chief executive of Salini Impregilo. “At this moment, it’s without a doubt the most complex project in the world from an engineering point of view. It’s a US$5 billion project of extraordinary significance not only at the technical level but also for the impact that it will have on global trade.”
The new canal will allow for the transit of ships that are nearly 400 meters long with a capacity of up to 14,000 containers – or 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) - three times the amount carried by ships that pass through the existing canal. The project has seen the excavation of 50 million cubic metres of earth, the pouring of five million cubic metres of concrete, the use of 290,000t tonnes of steel and the work of more than 10,000 workers. The giant sluice doors are - on average - about 30m tall, 10m wide and 58m long. Each weighs more than 3,000t.
Ships will have to sail across Gatun Lake, which is located some 27m higher than level of the oceans. To do this, they will enter the hydraulic lift consisting of three chambers fitted with a system of sliding sluice gates. Each chamber is 55m high, 427m long and 18.3m deep.
The new canal will allow huge ships – known as post-Panamax - to avoid having spending a month and 20,000km of circumnavigation. In just eight hours, they will be able to pass from one ocean to the other.
The third set of locks has also been designed to preserve the lake’s water supply. Large basins have been dug alongside each set of locks to reuse the water taken from the lake to fill each chamber. In this way, about 60% of the water is saved, reducing the amount required to about 200 million litres from 500 million litres.
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