GUPC consortium in line for Panama Canal contract

The consortium consists of Spanish constructor Sacyr Vallehermoso, the Italian construction firm Impregilo, Jan De Nul and local construction company Cusa. The consortium scored highest points on the technical evaluation and delivered the best price proposal for what is one of the most prestigious hydraulic engineering projects in the world.

GUPC – Grupo Unidos por el Canal – had the ‘best value’ proposal. With the offer of US$3.12bn the consortium did not exceed the Panama Canal’s allocated price of US$3.48 billion. The construction of the third set of locks is the most important part of the of the Panama Canal expansion project.

The work includes the construction of six lock chambers. Each of these lock chambers has a similar size to the ‘Berendrecht lock’ in Antwerp, Belgium, at this moment the largest lock in the world. The project will take five years to complete and create more than 6,000 jobs. During that period 40 million m³ of material will be excavated and 5 million m³ of concrete will be poured.

The project will allow larger vessels to sail between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean through the Panama Canal. Once completed, the capacity of the Panama Canal will be increased by approximately 50%.

Because the consortium had the best technical score as well as the lowest price, it is expected to be awarded the contract in the coming weeks. Work is expected to start early in 2010.

Jan De Nul is in another consortium with Odebrecht which has been awarded a dredging contract for deepening the Port of Rio Grande in Brazil from 14m to 16m in the inner channel and from 14m to 18m in the outer channel.

After the extension of the breakwaters, this contract is the second step in the major expansion of the southern facility of Rio Grande, doubling the cargo capacity of the port to 50 million tons by 2014. The scope of the contract comprises the removal of 17.4 million m3 in the 24km channel. Jan De Nul will deploy its 16,500m³ trailing suction hopper dredge Juan Sebastian de Elcano.

The contract will be executed in two phases. During the first phase the channel will be deepened, after which the whole will be maintained at depth for two years.