Panama Canal expansion of 2016
The third set of locks at Agua Clara and Cocoli, approved by referendum in 2006, opened on 26 June 2016, and the size class it created.
The Panama Canal expansion added a third set of locks at Agua Clara on the Atlantic side and Cocoli on the Pacific side, opening on 26 June 2016 after Panamanians approved the project by referendum on 22 October 2006. The budget was USD 5.25 billion and more than 150 million cubic metres was excavated.
The full article will cover the referendum and its result, the Grupo Unidos por el Canal consortium and the contract claims history, the chamber geometry of 427 m by 55 m by 18.3 m, the water saving basins, and the inaugural transit by the COSCO Shipping Panama on 26 June 2016. It will also cover the sequence of firsts through 2016 and the two later increases to the beam and length limits that mean the 2016 figures are no longer the operating envelope.