Spanish consortium wins $3 billion canal contract

A Spanish-led consortium had won a $3 billion contract to expand PanamaÔÇÖs famous inter-oceanic canal. Grupo Unidos por el Canal, led by Spanish construction firm Sacyr Vallehermoso, will design and build a new set of locks and water-saving basins on the 80km waterway, which is currently undergoing works to widen it worth a total of $5.25 billion. The winning $3.02 billion bid, which beat that of a group led by US firm Bechtel, is the largest single contract awarded so far as part of the expansion works. The consortium will begin building the locks on the canal within the next eight weeks, the Panamanian Canal Authority said in a statement. The Authority aims to complete the expansion works by 2014, one hundred years after the canal first opened. The original design of the canal, which carries around five per cent of the worldÔÇÖs trade┬áincluding much of the commerce between China and the east coast of the United States, is now too narrow for many of todayÔÇÖs larger freight ships.  The expansion is intended to┬áallow larger ships to use the US-built canal. *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *