Panama Canal begins filling new Pacific locks

Filling and testing the Pacific locks will take about 90 days.    The Panama Canal has begun filling the Cocoli’s locks on the Pacific side of the waterway, an important milestone in the canal’s massive expansion project.
   The filling process involves using powerful electric and diesel pumps, which have the ability to fill the lower chamber at a rate of nine inches per hour, the Panama Canal Authority said. The electronic pumps each provide an estimated 30,000 gallons of water per minute, while the added network of 13 diesel pumps can each pump 7,000 gallons of water per minute.
   Filling the Pacific locks, combined with the following testing will take about 90 days. Each lock complex includes three chambers and nine water-saving basins.
   The Panama Canal can currently only handle vessels carrying up to about 5,000 TEUs, but once the expansion project is completed, it will be able to handle vessels carrying up to 12,500 TEUs.
   According to the Panama Canal Authority, the project was nearly 90 percent complete at the end of May.