GUPC Consortium with JAN DE NUL has been awarded the construction of the 3rd set of Locks

The project provides for the construction of a new system of locks and is one of the world’s most important engineering works. The technical proposal presented obtains the best score, reflecting the level of excellence of Jan De Nul Group, which ranks among the top international civil and maritime constructors.

Jan De Nul said that the “Grupo Unidos por el Canal” consortium – formed by Sacyr Vallehermoso (Spain) and Somague (Portugal), Impregilo (Italy), Jan De Nul (Belgium) and Panama’s Constructora Urbana (Cusa) – has been officially informed on 15 July 2009 by the Panama Canal Authority that its tender to build a new system of locks under plans to widen the Canal has been accepted.

The consortium presented a bid of 3.22 billion dollars with respect to the Canal Authority’s 3.48 billion dollar target price, its maximum investment allocation. The technical proposal, the most important component of the bid for the purposes of evaluation, was awarded
the best evaluation and best score by the Commission: on a total of 5,500 points, the GUPC consortium obtained 4,088.5 points, compared with 3,973.5 for the C.A.N.A.L. consortium (ACS, Acciona, Fomento, Hochtief, ICA de Mexico) and 3,789.5 for the grouping formed by Bechtel, Taisei, Mitsubishi. The award recognizes the technical quality and scientific excellence of the project as well as the reliability and organizational abilities of the GUPC
consortium.

The winning bid was selected after a rigorous and transparent tender procedure followed by the Canal Authority, under which each short-listed competitor presented sealed envelopes containing their technical and price proposals at a public event held on 3 March 2009.

At the opening ceremony, the Authority presented its own target price from a sealed envelope, which was published, together with the competing bids, at a ceremony held on 8 July 2009. Work on the project, which will involve approximately 6000 workers is due for completion by the end of 2014, the centenary year of the opening of the Panama Canal.

One of the largest and most important engineering works ever planned, the project envisages the construction of two new series of locks, one on the Atlantic the other on
the Pacific Ocean side, to enable the Canal to handle increased levels of commercial traffic and respond to developments on the maritime shipping market, where builders are constructing larger container ships with greater TEU capacity, known as Post Panamax vessels, than the Canal is able to accommodate today.

The contract’s signing is awaited within the next four weeks.