Panama Canal expansion: lining of the water basins for the new locks with PVC exposed geomembrane system

摘要

The Expansion of the Panama Canal (Third Set of Locks Project) was a project, proposed by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), that doubled the capacity of the Panama Canal. The project created a new lane of traffic along the Canal by constructing a new set of locks. The project included construction of two new lock complexes, one lock on the Atlantic side and another lock on the Pacific side. Each of the new locks have three consecutive chambers to raise the vessels. Each chamber have three lateral water-reutilization basins, for a total of nine basins per lock and 18 basins total.The goal of the solution was to offer a technically sound and robust system, minimizing the use of concrete during the construction of the Water Saving Basin (WSB), accelerating the construction time and minimizing the global cost of the WSB system. The solution offers advantages, as: (1) The use of an exposed PVC geocomposites has a lower Manning coefficient then concrete, increasing the water speed and so increasing the hydraulic capacity of the system; (2) The solution minimizes the needs of site preparation and the use of large quantities of concrete or ballasting materials; (3) The total freedom of the geocomposites from the subgrade (not in adherence) combined with its deformability and elasticity and the low presence of concrete it is guarantee of good performance of the solution also in case of seismic event; (4) The fixing system is studied and engineered to resists the designed winds and water loads; (5) The exposed solution allows fast and economical maintenance as well as visual inspection all times.