Panama Canal Authority selects URS for environmental study

Panama Canal Authority selects URS for environmental study The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has awarded a contract to a group headed by URS Holdings Inc. to conduct an environmental impact study for its Panama Canal expansion project.
   URS provides professional and technical services in the engineering, construction services and defense markets with a number of U.S. federal government contracts. It will partner with local Panama organizations such as Fundaci'n de la Universidad de Panam', Fundaci'n Universidad Nacional Auton'ma de Chiriqu' (UNACHI) and environmental consulting company Entrix, to analyze baseline information and extensive data obtained by the ACP, identifying and evaluating potential impacts, formulating a Community Participation Plan and an Environmental Management Plan. The study is slated to be completed in about nine months.
   On Oct. 22, 2006, 78 percent of voters backed the project to expand the canal by building a new set of locks, which should double the corridor’s capacity when work is completed in about seven to eight years.