Korean companies play major role in multi-billion metro expansion

The Korean consortium HPH Joint Venture, which is building line 3 of the metro, will also design the tunnel that will allow the monorail to cross under the Panama Canal after the earlier choice of an American-led consortium failed to meet the requirements demanded by the Government.

The selection of the group in which Louis Berger LAC participated generated a wave of criticism due to corruption cases in which the firm was mentioned.

In March, the Minister of Public Works, Rafael Sabonge, reported that HPH Joint Venture would be in charge of the construction of the underground section of line 3, which will have an extension of 5 kilometers, and would be in charge of the design and execution of the civil works.

Meanwhile, the civil works of the extension of line 2 to the Tocumen International Airport, are 93% complete and the installation of the railway system 79% advanced.

The 2-kilometer connection with the new passenger terminal cost $150 million and will have a station at the Panama Specialized Higher Technical Institute (ITSE).

The second project executed by the Metro in the capital city is the extension of line 1, from the San Isidro station, to the Villa Zaita sector. The work is the responsibility of the OHL-Mota Engil companies, at a cost of $202.6 million, and is 20% complete.

In the 2.2 kilometers that the project comprises, 85 piles will be built for the viaduct and another 10 for the Villa Zaita Station. The terminal station in Villa Zaita will be connected to a bus and taxi interchange that will have 16 parking docks (and the capacity to serve 8,000 passengers during peak hours.

A total of 2,800 jobs are currently generated by the three projects. Of the three, the largest is line 3, which will connect the Albrook station on line 1 with the City of the Future in Arraiján.

The work has a cost of 2.844 billion and was awarded to the Korean consortium HPH Joint Venture, made up of the companies Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd, and Posco Engineering Construction.

The projection of the Metro is that the ‘heavy’ works related to the tunnel will be carried out within the 54-month period that the Korean group has to build the elevated section. This period would not be enough to install the auxiliary and operating systems, as well as to carry out the tests of the complete line, so the construction time contemplated in the original contract would have to be extended.