TDA to Invest in Feasibility Studies for Panama Canal Modernization Projects

For Immediate Release

Washington, DC (26 February 1999) - The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) will award $800,000 in grants for two feasibility studies on projects related to the Panama Canal today in a signing ceremony in Panama City . TDA's Director J. Joseph Grandmaison, Panama's Minister of Public Works Ing. Luis Blanco, and Panama Canal Commission Administrator Alberto Alem·n Zubieta will sign the grants. The newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Panama, Simon Ferro, will witness the ceremony.

"The Panama Canal handles four percent of the world's maritime trade and serves as an essential commercial link between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans," said Director Grandmaison. "TDA is pleased to help position this important waterway for the 21st Century by ensuring that it is running as efficiently and effectively as possible."

The first $400,000 grant will partially fund the cost of a $634,000 feasibility study for the construction of a new bridge or bridge-tunnel combination to span the Canal. The current Bridge of the Americas is the only crossing point for commercial traffic, and therefore serves as a vital link between the eastern and western halves of the country. At the time of its opening in 1962, 9,500 vehicles crossed the bridge daily. Thirty-seven years later, the bridge can no longer support the 35,000 vehicles that travel across it each day. Clearly, establishing a new link for the efficient flow of commerce and labor is of the utmost importance. The TDA-funded study will evaluate traffic flows, develop a sound environmental and engineering analysis of the future bridge, and structure a plan for concessions and financing.

U.S. exports associated with this project could exceed $43 million. Expected equipment to be procured includes earth moving equipment, cranes, hoists, construction materials, structural steel, and electronic toll collection technologies. Engineering and construction services will also be needed. Selection for a U.S. consultant to conduct this study will be competed through the Commerce Business Daily.

The second $400,000 grant will partially fund a feasibility study on the construction of a set of Syncrolift locks at the Panama Canal. The U.S firm Syncrolift, Inc., of Miami, Fla., will conduct the $1.2 million study, cost-sharing the balance. Currently, the largest ship that can fit through the Canal's existing locks is a Panamax vessel, which has a maximum capacity of 65,000 dead weight tons. Because passage for these larger vessels displaces a large amount of water and is time-consuming, Syncrolift is proposing a third set of lock lifts to handle the majority of smaller ships that transit the Panama Canal, thereby freeing up the existing locks to handle the larger vessels. This project will ultimately conserve irreplaceable fresh water displaced by overuse of the larger locks and alleviate the waiting time to pass through the Canal.

U.S. exports associated with this project include system design, hoists, wire ropes, control equipment, seals and dams, bearings, actuators, shipping, piers, and pilings. These exports could exceed $160 million worth of U.S. goods and services.

In addition to signing these two grants, Director Grandmaison will join the U.S.-Panama Business Council in a meeting co-hosted by the Caribbean/Latin America Action. Mr. Grandmaison will speak before the group about TDA's activities throughout the Americas. Last year, the agency provided funding for 91 activities in Latin America ranging from transportation initiatives like these two projects in Panama to electricity and wastewater projects in Mexico, Central and South America.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency is an independent federal agency that assists in the creation of jobs for Americans by helping U.S. companies pursue overseas business opportunities. TDA provides American firms with market entry, exposure and information through the funding of feasibility studies, technical assistance, reverse trade missions, and conferences. These efforts help American businesses establish a position in newly emerging economies.

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