Panama Canal Atlantic Bridge contract awarded

French contractor Vinci has won the contract to construct a 4.6 km bridge on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, with a bid of US$ 366 million.

Vinci Construction Grands Projets was awarded the contract by the Panama Canal Authority (PAC), which said it offered the lowest price to complete the work.

Vinci’s bid beat a joint venture between Odebrecht and Hyundai, which bid US$ 430 million for the contract, and a joint venture between Acciona and Tradeco, which bid US$ 387 million.

PAC is an autonomous agency of the Government of Panama and is in charge of managing, operating and maintaining the Panama Canal.

Located 3 km north of the existing Gatun Locks and the under-construction Post-Panamax locks, the double-plane, twin pylon, cable-stayed reinforced concrete bridge will feature two lanes of traffic in each direction, and will stand 75 m above sea level.

The Post-Panamax locks are the third lane of locks for the Panama Canal which are currently being built as part of a US$ 5.25 billion expansion scheme.