ACP Awards Third Excavation Contract

The Panama Canal Authority has awarded a third excavation contract to Costa Rica-based Constructora Meco, which submitted the winning bid of $36.7m. The excavations will help create an access channel linking the new Pacific locks with the existing Gaillard Cut. An ACP spokeswoman says the entity will use its own cash to finance the project and not the $2.3bn in financing it recently obtained from multilateral banks. The other five companies that presented bids are Cilsa Mineria Maria, which bid $74.7m, Conalvias-Retraneq with $61.3m, Constructora Santa Fe, which bid $46.0m, Corporacion M&S, which bid $45.2m and Constructora Urbana, which bid $38.2m. A fourth and last excavation contract will be awarded in July, says the spokeswoman, adding that bidding will begin in February.