Larry Belkan and Bill Irving
In February, Carolyn and I went on a Panama Canal cruise and were able to see what CH2M HILL is doing on this project. Mark Lasswell/DEN arranged a tour with Don Heyer/PTY, and Larry Belkan took time from his busy schedule to drive us around. The week I returned to Corvallis, Mark Lasswell was at the office; and I attended his talk on this project.
CH2M HILL is under a $5.25B contract to provide program management to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). It is amazing to see the extent of the project and what we will be doing over the next 3 years. The expansion will include a set of locks substantially larger than the original canal; and the new locks will be longer, wider, and deeper.
It was exciting to see this huge project and think about the movement of sheer hillsides to build the new canal. The project will use all the rock and earth, which they removed, in various ways in the new canal. They crush all the rock onsite and produce all concrete that will be needed. The 80-ton trucks carry the rock to be crushed. The new steel fabrication building was almost finished when we were there. I am sure much progress has been made since then. The size and scope of this project is remarkable.