By: Lia Contesso
Submitted: 2010-09-14 03:24:52 | Word Count: 498
The maritime traffic in the latest years increased, not only in terms of number of ships, but also in terms of dimensions: while before their capacity remained around 4.400 TEUs (the standard measure used in the transportation to indicate their volume) now it reaches 12.000 TEUs, thus increasing the size of the ships and, hence, the space they need. Here rose the necessity of enlarging the Panama Canal, realizing two new series of locks; the Italian companies involved in the project are OMG and Impregilio.
By now, the ships crossing the Panama Canal have specific limitations: the crossing, in fact, is limited to ships which do not go over 292,68 meters of length and 32,31 in width. The end of the work is scheduled for 2014, date which will mean a possible increase of the use of the canal and, consequently, an increase of the income of the Panama State: the canal tolls, in fact, represent the main income of the little central American State.
With the end of the works to enlarge the Panama Canal there will be new locks, and each of them will reach a width of 55 meters and a length of 427 meters, and problem of the height difference between the Gatun Lake and the ocean will be solved with a system of bulkheads. The new locks will allow the traffic in a unidirectional sense of ships which will be have to have a maximum length of 366 meters and a maximum width of 49 meters, thus increasing the traffic in the canal.
The engineering experience of Impregilio connects with the experience in construction of OMG, engaged in the construction of craves and construction machineries of various kind, which will realize the electrical and hydraulic control panels of the bulkheads which will be used to open the new phase of the life of the Panama Canal.
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The navigation in the Panama Canal is regulated by special rules, according to which the pilot of the canal is nominated officer in command of the ship: he will not only be the assistant, as it usually happens, but he will actually be the commander. The usual commander of the ship, instead, during the crossing will stay responsible for the services and functionalities of the ship, but won’t be allowed to take part in the piloting operations, while property and organization do not vary.
Since the official inauguration of the Panama Canal, in 1920 (6 years after the and of its construction because of the First World War), 90 years passed; almost a century after its construction, the canal confirms its fundamental role in the world’s maritime transports, as since its construction it allowed courses which before were unimaginable, facilitating transports and, consequently, commerce, which thanks to the enlargement of the Panama Canal will become more florid and offer more possibilities.
Author Resource:- This article was written by Lia Contesso, with support from crane manufacturer.
