Six companies bid for dredging Gatun Lake
The Panama Canal Authority ACP confirms a total of six companies are interested in participating in one more step involving the expansion of the Panama Canal.
They have submitted proposals for the dredging of a section of Gatun Lake the artificial lake that supplies water to the Canal. The companies are Dredging International, for an estimated $40 million; China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), for an estimated $67.4 million; Boskalis International, for an estimated $86 million. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, with a proposal for approximately $72.4 million; Van Oord, for $97.3 million; and Jan De Nul, for approximately $57.9 million.
The contract is part of a project to dredge and excavate the channel of the Canal under the Expansion Program, which includes the dredging and/or excavation of an estimated 30 million cubic meters of material in the Gatun Lake and Gaillard Cut (the narrowest section Panama Canal).
The ACP will begin the analysis of the technical and financial proposals to award the contract to the firm offering the lowest price, while meeting the specific requirements stated in the tender.
The hardest task of the project is the widening and deepening of existing navigation channels, of approximately 4.6 million cubic meters along the borders at the north end of the lake.
