Panama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 17 of 24 · 18 min
The Mega-Expansion: How Panama Bet $5 Billion on Its Canal — and Won
Facing obsolescence as ships outgrew its locks, Panama put a $5.25 billion canal expansion to a referendum in 2006 and voters approved it. The episode follows Alberto Alemán Zubieta's turning the canal into a business, the nine-year build of a third set of locks, a cost-overrun fight, and the June 2016 opening. It closes on the canal's dependence on fresh water.
Who's who
- Alberto Alemán Zubieta+1 more episodeCanal administrator 1996-2012; architect of the expansion
- Jorge QuijanoAlemán's successor who saw the project completed
Where it happens
- Panama Canal+3 more episodesThird set of locks opened in 2016
- Gatún Lake, PanamaFresh-water source for the canal
- Panama+5 more episodesCountry whose voters approved the expansion
Timeline
- 1996Alemán appointed to lead the old canal commission and the new authority
- October 22, 2006Referendum approves expansion with about 78 percent yes
- 2007Construction begins
- February 2014Cost-overrun dispute with the contractor consortium briefly halts work
- June 26, 2016Expanded canal opens; COSCO Shipping Panama makes first transit
Still debated
The 78 percent approval came on turnout of about 43 percent. The project ran over its estimates, and whether returns met the rosiest forecasts is debated. The water-saving basins helped, but the 2023-24 drought still forced restrictions.