Filling in the locks on the Pacific side will start next week as announced by the Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano.
This comes after last August that leaks were detected in one of the walls of the Pacific locks and the contractor had to start repair.
However, the contractor undertook to provide repair work between 22 and 25 January last, however, after a meeting with staff of the Canal, said that would be the end of January, and now, that could be the middle of next week.
"In the building there is nothing precise. Everything is Approximate" said Canal Administrator when asked about an exact delivery date for the repairs.
"The filling of the locks is done to test the effectiveness of repairs and reinforcements," said Quijano.
He said then continue testing the water saving basins of the new locks.
He stressed that the filling and the tests take about a month and a few days.
As for the date of opening of the expansion of the road, Canal Administrator noted that "assuming successful tests, we maintain our forecast for the second quarter."
After GUPC suspend the construction of the third set of locks in 2014, it was agreed that the expansion would be completed in April this year. However, given the drawbacks presented an exact opening date of the work is unknown, and missing tests done.
Datos
96% de avance registra en su totalidad el proyecto de ampliación de la vía acuática.
95% de avance registra el proyecto del Tercer Juego de Esclusas del Canal Ampliado.
