News

Panama’s government and a Chinese consortium have reached an agreement to restart work on a fourth bridge across the Panama Canal. Work is set to resume “in the coming months,” officials said.

The agreement with the group led by China Communications Construction Company and China Harbor Engineering Company will move the project forward with a budget of $1.372 billion, making it one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the region. It will also help open up Panama’s western coastline, making the waterfront communities more accessible from Panama.

The deal also fits into the existing financing structure.

“This transaction is what will guarantee the delivery of this important work to the country,” the Ministry of Public Works said in a statement.

Some changes were made to the original plan, including the deletion of a gazebo and restaurant that were contemplated, “as well as adjusting the width of the main deck, exchangers and the type of columns,” La Estrella reports. The new agreement also separates out the construction of Line 3 of the Panama metro, a provision that was certainly made to expedite construction.

The head of the ministry, Rafael Sabonge, affirmed that construction work will restart after a team of experts from the consortium concludes “the development of the detailed design, the studies and other works in the field.”

Construction is expected to take 54 months and generate more than 4,000 jobs, which will provide a nice boost to Panama’s economy.