As part of the Expansion Program’s fourth phase of the Pacific Access Channel (PAC-4), the process to fill the new channel that will connect Culebra Cut to the new locks in the Pacific side has officially started.
The new channel is 6.1 kilometers long and 218 meters wide and 19 million cubic meters of water from Gatun Lake will be needed for its filling.
It is estimated that the water level of the new channel will rise between 0.5 and 1.0 meter per day during the filling operation, which will last about 20 days.
This development scheme included removal of 26 million cubic meters of material and construction of a 2.4 kilometers long dam.
The Panama Canal Authority has just released this very interesting video about the new channel filling program: