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TITULO: Se ha abierto ya el canal de panamá

TEXTO: :A continuación transcribiremos un buen artículo en inglés obtenido de la prensa especializada en ingeniería: The third set of locks of the Panama Canal expansion project have officially passed all performance tests, setting the stage for the transit of the first New Panamax ship on June 26. The significant component of the $5.25 billion expansion program, the new lock complexes, located on the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the Panama Canal, create a third lane of traffic for ships significantly larger than the current canal can handle. The existing lock system allows passage of vessels that can carry up to 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). After the expansion, vessels will be able to transit through the canal carrying up to 13,000/14,000 TEUs. Creation of the new lane of traffic along the canal is expected to roughly double the waterway’s cargo-conveying capacity. Creation of the new lane of traffic along the canal is expected to roughly double the waterway’s capacity. Image credit: ©Canal de Panamá. Creation of the new lane of traffic along the canal is expected to roughly double the waterway’s capacity. Image credit: ©Canal de Panamá. The chambers of the new locks have 427 meters of usable length when both guard gates are closed, with a width of 55 meters and a depth of 18.3 meters, allowing passage of vessels of up to 366 meters in length, 49 meters in beam, and a maximum draft of 15 meters. Each lock chamber will have three water-saving basins—approximately 70 meters wide by 5.5 meters deep—that will permit reuse of 60% of the water in each transit. A total of 18 basins have been built that will allow the new locks to use 7% less water than the existing locks despite their significantly larger size. Transiting ships of greater dimensions and displacement will see the implementation of overhauled vessel-positioning measures for the new locks. Instead of using locomotives to assist them inside the chambers, New Panamax vessels will be maneuvered using their engines and rudders, with assistance from tugboats. Similar to the procedures used in the Berendrecht and Zandvliet locks at the Port of Antwerp, in Belgium, vessels will be secured inside the lock chambers by means of the ships' lines, with winches operated by ships' crews. In addition to the construction of the third set of locks, the Panama Canal expansion encompasses the deepening and widening of the existing channels and the excavation of a new navigation access channel connecting the new set of locks on the Pacific side with the Culebra Cut—an artificial valley that slices through the Continental Divide in Panama linking Gatun Lake to the Gulf of Panama.

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