Panama Canal Celebrates Anniversary with New Locks

In 2014 for its 100-year anniversary, thePanama Canal Authority is modernizing and expanding the canal between theAtlantic and Pacific. The construction includes installation of new locks tothe two oceans, each with three lock chambers, and will allow much bigger shipsthan before to pass through the Panama Canal.

Bosch Rexroth is contributinghydraulic system solutions to the modernization process. With an availabilitygoal of 99.99 percent, the new design will guarantee a smoother flow of trafficon one of the world's busiest waterways. But although the new locks are muchbigger, they will use less fresh water than the current technology and conservethe region's water supply.

"The engineeringchallenges on this project have been able to design our equipment to complywith the specified seismic loads, working conditions or environment and theuptime requirement," says Antonio Osio, application and civil engineer andco-project manager for the Panama Canal Project.

Bosch Rexroth willprovide the operating machinery for the culvert, conduit and equalizationvalves. "These valves are responsible to let water in and out of each lockchamber or water basin," says Osio. "Our scope consists of hydraulic powerunits, cylinders and electrical controls. This equipment has been designed to acertain level of redundancy that will guarantee the uptime required by TheCanal."

Whenthe Panama Canal began operating in 1914, steamships and sailing ships stillruled the seas. Modern drive systems have also seen the size of ships increaseand 60 percent of the world's merchant fleet now no longer fits through thePanama Canal. Once the locks are expanded, ships up to 366 m long and 49 m widewill also be able to save on travel time, costs and CO₂ emissions.

Asthe supplier of the steel construction for the wheel gates, South Koreanshipbuilder Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI) contracted with Bosch Rexrothin late 2010 to plan, construct and commission 158 customer-specific hydraulicunits and drive cylinders to operate the water-regulating wheel gates.

Each lock chamberis connected to three water-saving basins via communicating pipes. To lift theships, drives open the corresponding inlets and the water from the water-savingbasins fills the lock chambers using gravity. Unlike the previous technology,the water flows back into the basins once the lock operation is complete. Only40 percent of the water required for one lock operation comes from the man-madeGatun Lake. By contrast, the existing locks take the entire amount of waterrequired from the lake and then empty all of it into the sea. Despite theconsiderably larger lock chambers, this means the expansion reduces consumptionof fresh water by 7 percent compared with the existing locks, ensuring theregional water supply is conserved in a sustainable way.

This applicationplaces particularly high demands on the availability of the automation solution.Over the course of 100,000 operating hours which equates to more than 11.5 yearsof round-the-clock operation, the total downtime must be less than only fourhours.

Aftera construction period lasting three years, the official opening is scheduled totake place in its anniversary year of 2014.