Dredging works implies a lot of aspects that impact this kind of activities; relevant aspects as the diverse geological conditions; nearby structures and those near to the shoreline; environmental and safety issues; interference with other projects or operations; maritime regulations, limited dredging fleet, and a dynamic dredging schedule.
In Panama, the heart of the interoceanic crossing is the Panama Canal Authority (ACP); a government agency, which mission is based on the statement of being efficient and competitive with excellence and quality, guaranteeing an expeditious, reliable, safe and uninterrupted transit through its channels. In order to achieve these goals, ACP invests in increasing its capacity and improving the services using state-of-art technology to strengthen the competitive position of the country and ensure its future viability.
Remarkable excavation and dredging works were executed and completed during the last 17 years; being the most relevant projects, those within the Expansion Program, that complemented the construction of the Third Set of Locks, opened for official operation on June 26, 2016. These projects included deepening and widening of the Navigation Channel required for the transit of the Neo-Panamax vessels.
In addition to this Expansion Program, the ACP continues with a comprehensive maintenance dredging program along the existing and the new reaches of the expanded channel, in the sea entrances and lakes, at the same time develops other projects to improve the efficiency of the Panama Canal operations.
The main dredging challenge in the Panama Canal is to work during traffic operations, since the vessel’s transit is the priority. The work plan should consider this limitation, and its impacts, which could represent a reduction of production of the dredgers, increasing6684-1724 logistic and managing the related risks. Others challenges are the interface with other projects, navigation structures, maritime signals, location and capacity of disposal sites and ACP regulation that could be relevant.
The unique experience and lessons learned from those projects feed the ACP´s knowledge and its ability to manage issues in the most efficient way, mitigating impacts and improving the dredging works, optimizing dredging methodology in the Panama Canal.