Salt water intrusion - Canal de Panamá

Salt Water Intrusion Analysis Panama Canal Locks Salt Water Intrusion Mitigation Systems - Report F - SummaryQ3696, April 2005
The delay for shipping caused by operation of a mitigation system is in particular of
importance, since delays may effect the capacity of the new shipping lane. Post-Panamax
ships are most probably not allowed to pass the canal at night, which means that the daylight
window has to be used to handle the ships. The capacity of the new lane is thus constraint by
the length of the daylight window, but is also depending on lock operation times and on the
way that ships are guided. In the so-called ‘relay mode’ of operation locomotives guide the
ship halfway and return to their original position. The ship is taken over by other locomotives,
which guide the ship further through the locks. This ‘relay mode’ has been developed
for the existing locks with a ‘locomotive on single track system’, and has the advantage
that a second ship can already been handled before the first ship has left the last
chamber of the 3-lift lock system. A similar time-saving effect can be obtained in the new
locks when tugboats assist the Post-Panamax vessels all the way through the locks.
When the operation of a mitigation system requires some extra time between two subsequent
lockages, the capacity of the locks is effected, in particular when a ‘relay mode’ of
operation (or similar) is applied. The maximum number of Post-Panamax ships that can be
handled per day may then be reduced.
After a careful consideration at the meeting with ACP of 12 October 2004, next four
mitigation systems have been selected for a further analysis using the simulation model
SWINLOCKS:
Mitigation system I:
stepwise flushing of all lock chambers (‘dummy’ lockage)
System I
left: downlockage, right: uplockage
features:
• no special provisions required; standard operation between two lockages
WL | Delft Hydraulics
Sum - 4