Contract for fourth bridge over Panama Canal awarded

The main cable-stayed bridge will have a total length of 965m

Engineering and technology group Sener has been awarded the contract to design the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal.

The project covers the design and construction of a six-lane bridge that will cross the canal between Panama West and Panama City, alleviating traffic in these areas.

It is reported that the project is highly complex and that Sener’s experience of a cable-stayed bridge in Cebu, Philippines, for which the group was the lead engineering firm in the design consortium, played a role in them being awarded the contract by the Panama Cuarto Puente Consortium (CPCP).

Sener will work alongside Greisch and the Highway Planning and Design Institute (HDPI).

The main elements of the bridge include the two highly complex interchanges at either side of the canal, East (Albrook) and West (connection with the Pan-American Highway), as well as their respective double-decker access viaducts, with a total length of 2,450m, and the main cable-stayed bridge with a total length of 965m, a main span of 485m and a vertical clearance for passing ships of 75m.

The structure of the main bridge will be designed by HPDI, in collaboration with Sener and Greisch, who are responsible for their special studies and supplementary projects. Sener will also design the interchanges and access viaducts.

Ricardo Sardinha, Global Highways Business Director at Sener, said, “It’s an honor to be part of this ambitious CPCP project, which will improve the lives of Panamanians with a unique structure that poses an engineering challenge. This is a comprehensive mega-project that will require the multidisciplinary capacity that characterizes Sener.”