Last of Canal expansion lock gates in place

THE LAST of the 16 giant “sliding” lock gates for the Panama Canal expansion was installed successfully on Tuesday April 28 on the Pacific side.

The gate 57.6 meters long  gate is located at the southern end of the new locks.It is  10 meters wide,33 meters high and and weighs 50 tons.
The gates were manufactured in Italy and were brought to Panama from Trieste in four deliveries that began on Aug. 20, 2013. Each delivery involved a thirty day crossing
Now that the gates have been installed, the GUPC consortium contractor  will begin flooding the chambers to see if they are ready for testing. The project is almost 90 percent complete.

When the news locks are operational,  post Panamax vessels, equivalent in size to four football fields, twill be able to cross the 80 kilometers waterway