Shaping the Panama Canal by Blasting – Pacific Complex’s Works

Paulo Couceiro,
Technical Office Engineer, MAXAM Civil Explosives
&
Manuel Lopez Cano,
Technical Director, MAXAM Civil Explosives

Abstract

The Panama Canal is one of the most important engineering projects of the modern era and plays a
strategic role in the global economy and international maritime trade since its inauguration in 1914.
Now, a little more than one century later, the final phase of its expansion program, the largest
infrastructure works undertaken since its inauguration, has concluded. This expansion program has
created a new lane of traffic along the Canal with the construction of a new set of locks – one on the
Pacific side and another one on the Atlantic side -, increasing the Canal’s capacity and its impact on the
world’s economy even more.

Most of the excavation works carried out on the Pacific side of the complex has required a special
combination of blasting techniques and solutions. Underwater and open pit blasting (production, buffer
and contour blasting), including blasting near freshly poured concrete and other sensitive structures,
long PVC cased hole in backfill areas and other techniques were required. More than 3,000 blasts were
carried out along of all Pacific Complex’s channel and Gatun lake area from 2009 to 2015 to excavate
31 million m3 (41 million yd3) of rock. This blasting program was carried out under different contracts
or components, of which the most important ones were:
1. Pacific Entrance - Navigation Channels (underwater blasting)
2. New Pacific Locks (design and construction of the Third Set of Locks)
3. Pacific Access Channel 4
The challenges for blasting were complex and diverse, depending of type and location of the projects’
components, and required innovative solutions. Fragmentation size requirements were stringent to meet
the requirements of a concrete plant and the dredging operation; control of ground vibration and air-blast
overpressure required an intense monitoring program in the neighboring communities. Moreover, a
highly restrictive blast design was necessary to avoid flyrocks into the Panama Canal and damage to the
maturing of the freshly poured concrete.

The present paper details the main blast designs, solutions and outcomes MAXAM’s work along of all
Pacific Complex’s and Gatun’s Lake excavation during seven years for shaping the new Panama Canal
by blasting.

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Introduction
The Panama Canal was officially opened on August 15th 1914 and since then, this magnificent
construction has been impacting the world’s economy by shortening distances, reducing sailing time and
lowering the cost of transportation of the international maritime trade. On the other hand, after almost a
century of operations, forecasts predicted that the Panama Canal would soon reach its maximum
sustainable capacity. Facing this scenario, the ACP (Panama Canal Authority) proposed a major
expansion program which required the construction of a new set of locks to double the actual canal’s
capacity.

100 years after the Panama Canal. The Expansion Program

The expansion works officially started on September 2007, and after almost 9 years of uninterrupted
work, the largest infrastructure works since the Canal’s inauguration in 1914 was concluded. This
expansion program has created a new lane of traffic along the Canal through the construction of a new
set of locks – one in the Pacific Ocean and another in the Atlantic Ocean -, increasing the Canal’s
capacity and reaffirming its importance to the world economy.

Pacific Complex – Blasting Works

The new locks on the Pacific side to bridge the Pacific Ocean to the Gatun Lake are of a new unique
design. As consequence, the challenging excavation of the hard rock material on the Pacific Complex
side has required the use several blasting techniques and solutions. Excavation works were needed to
shape the rock surface for the new locks’ channel, chambers and water-saving basins, and to construct a
new access channel, known as Pacific Access Channel, which connects the upper chamber of the new
locks to the Galliard cut. The Third Set of Locks is composed of three chambers each with water-saving
basins, lateral filling and emptying system and rolling gates. The Pacific Access Channel was executed
in four phases (PACs 1-4) and required a large amount of dry excavation material along 6.1 km (3.8 mi).
Specific quarries were also opened around the channel excavations in order to supply adequate
aggregate material. Furthermore, underwater excavations were required for the construction of the south
access channel and access to the Gatun Lake area. The first excavation, the south access, has connected
the Pacific entrance navigational channel of the original Panama Canal to the lower chamber of the new
locks. The second excavation, the Gatun Lake access, was carried out for widening and deepening the
existing channel.

Figure 1: General overview of different project components on the Pacific Complex works and
simplified rock domains on the Panama Canal Expansion Program (based on ACP, 2006b).

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The rock domains in the expansion program were dominated by Basalt, Pedro Miguel Agglomerates and
La Boca Formation. The basalt domain could be classified into two subdivisions according to its
heterogeneity, lithology and geomechanical characteristics: massive and columnar basalt, both medium
hard to very hard, dense and tough. Pedro Miguel Agglomerates, known locally as hydrothermal basalt,
was really a pyroclastic formation, generally of coarse texture, medium hard to hard, dense, dark gray,
massive to moderately fractured. In contrast, La Boca Formation was a sedimentary formation of
volcanic origin with hardness varying from very soft to medium hard rock composed mainly of
sandstones, siltstones, limestones and agglomerates.

(a) Massive Basalt (b) Columnar Basalt (c) Pedro Miguel Formation
Figure 2: Rock domain in PAC-4. Different geomechanical characteristics led to different results
in terms of fragmentation.

Pacific Entrance – South Access Navigation Channels (Underwater Blasting)

The Pacific Post-Panamax Locks South Access excavation and construction was part of the Widening
and Deepening portion of the Panama Canal Pacific Entrance Navigation Channel project. Blasting
works have consisted in removing approximately 1.0 million m3 (1.3 million yd3) of material (rock and
overburden), which required the use of 1.3 million kg (2.9 million lbs.) of pumped explosive in less than
5 months.

Figure 3: YD007 drilling platform composed by 10 Drill Tower and 3 MMUs.

The blast design was strongly correlated with desired fragmentation results. The most common blasting
patterns were 3.0x3.0m (9.8x9.8 ft.) and 3.0x3.5m (9.8x11.5 ft.) with an average powder factor of 1.63

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2017G - Shaping the Panama Canal by Blasting – Pacific Complex’s Works 3 of 10
kg/m3 (2.75 lbs./yd3). Higher powder factors, at times reaching 2.3 kg/m3 (3.9 lbs./yd3), were used to
guarantee the required fragmentation. Subdrilling was necessary to avoid toes. Furthermore, stemming
played a very important role on controlling low frequency ground vibrations (Lopez Cano et al. 2011).

100
BP011 and BP012
90 (17-06-09)

80 BP009, BP010 and

BP011 (23-06-09)
70
BP011, BP012 and
BP013 (21-06-09)

% Passing
60
BP011, BP012 and
50 BP013 (20-06-09)

40 BP011, BP012 and

BP013 (18-06-09)
30

20

10

0
1 10 100 1000 10000
Particle Size (mm)

Figure 4: Fragmentation result from Blasts 11, 12 and 13, designed to be excavated by a Clamshell
Dredger and used as a reference to calculate the new patterns for P95% < 300mm (11.8 in.).

The desired fragmentation size was defined according to the requirements of the dredging equipment. At
the start of the project, a Clamshell type dredger was used, which required a maximum fragmentation
size of 450-600mm (17.71-23.62 in.). However, the productivity of this equipment was below
expectations, and it was substituted by a Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD). This decision required that
maximum fragmentation size be reduced to 300mm (11.81 in.). The initial blast design was modified
based on the results of the fragmentation analysis and blast simulations, which predicted that the smaller
fragmentation could be achieved.

New Pacific Locks (Design and Construction of the Third Set of Locks)
The design and construction of the Third Set of Locks was the main component of the Panama Canal
expansion program. The complexity and challenges of this project, in part due to their unprecedented
size, was related to the tight schedule of the works, which combined simultaneous earth movement, rock
excavation by blasting and construction of the locks, in a demanding work environment. This project
required more than 2000 shots to excavate almost 18.6 million m3 (24.3 million yd3) of rock, consuming
almost 10 million kg of explosive in 5 years.

The Third Set of Locks project required a complex combination of blasting techniques. On the one hand,
the surface preparation for installing the new locks required a combination of production, buffer/caution
and contour blasting to excavate the chambers, water-basing, water-conduits and others parts of the
project. On the other hand, close to the chambers, a quarry was opened to provide aggregate material for
a concrete plant. Furthermore, to mitigate the risk of flyrocks falling in the Panama Canal itself, a strict
control on the stemming, loading design and operation was necessary. Most of the blasting operations
were carried out close to structures with freshly poured concrete which was maturing, offices and
existing locks and other installations, which also required a stringent control of the maximum

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instantaneous charge (MIC). Lastly, long cased blasthole blasting was carried out at the south access of
the new locks, close to the cofferdam and dike approach structure.

The complexity of blasting activities in the Third Set of Locks can be appreciated by the use 127
different drilling patterns applied during the project. The most common pattern used was 3.5x4.0m
(11.5x13.1 ft.), used in around 13.3% of the shots; the patterns of 2.5x3.0m (8.2x9.8 ft.) and 4.0x4.0m
(13.1x13.1 ft.) were used in 12.8% and 10.9% of the shots, respectively. The average powder factor was
0.51 kg/m3 (0.86 lbs. /yd3). These large number of blast patterns were needed for the excavation
channel, chambers, water-basing configurations and quarries. Related to the charge configuration, the
most common explosive used was a doped pumped watergel, as well as watergel and emulsion
cartridges. Cartridges of smaller diameter were used in very restrictive blasts, for example in blasting
near maturing concrete structures or in final walls.

In general, caution blasting design consisted of smaller diameter boreholes, generally 76mm (3 in.), and
on a smaller drill pattern when compared to production blasts. The loading was done with cartridge
explosives to obtain a decoupling effect. The average borehole length was 6.3m (20.7 ft.) and the
maximum was, 13.6m (44.6 ft.). The most common caution pattern was 2.0x2.0m (6.6x6.6 ft.) with an
average powder factor of 0.83kg/m3 (1.40 lbs. /yd3). These configurations were normally used together
with pre-split blasting, or when close to sensitive structures.

Figure 5: (a) Pre-splitting results in Massive Basalt; (b) Pre-splitting results in columnar Basalt.

Pre-split blasting technique was used as contour blasting. The almost sculptural use of this technique
was common during the Third Set of Locks project. On the other hand, difficulties arose from the
complex geomechanical state of the Basalt. In general, good results were obtained in massive basalt
whereas the final state of the walls, in the columnar Basalt structures, was strongly dominated by the
rock mass structure (Figure 5). The borehole diameter was 76mm (3 in.) with a spacing varying from
0.7m to 2.0m (2.3 ft. to 6.6 ft.). The 2.0m spacing was used with an empty hole in between, at 1.0m (3.3
ft). Detonating cord was used instead of cartridges or other explosives. Thus, the most common charge
was composed of an 80g/m (376 gr./ft.) detonating cord as a column charge with one or two emulsion
cartridges at the bottom, connected with 6-10g/m (28-47 gr./ft.) detonating cord. Pre-splitting blasting
was shot alone, or together with production/caution blasting, delayed by 90-120ms.

The Third Set of Locks project demanded closely monitoring ground vibrations. As a result of complex
operation schedule, where excavations by blasting were to be conducted together with concrete pouring

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operations, a part of the existence of sensitive nearby structures such as the ACP offices, Miraflores
Locks and others, an exhaustive vibration monitoring and analysis program was deployed. A total of six
seismographs were installed around each blast to monitor ground vibration levels. Thus, taking into
account the heterogeneous behavior of the terrain, specific attenuation laws were established for
different quadrants of the project (Figure 6). The first and second quadrants referred to the south-west
and north-west areas of the project whereas the third one included the entire east region in relation to the
axis of the new channel. As a consequence of this zoning process, a bi-dimensional analysis could be
conducted in order to understand the azimuthal attenuation behavior of ground vibrations.
100
Peal Particle Velocity (mm/s)

10

Quadrant I Quadrant II Quadrant III & IV

Attenuation Law Attenuation Law Attenuation Law

0.1
1 10 100 1000 1 10 100 1000 1 10 100 1000
Scale Distance (m/kg0.5) Scale Distance (m/kg0.5) Scale Distance (m/kg0.5)

Figure 6: Ground vibration laws for different quadrants in the Third Set of Locks Project.
Particle Velocity (mm/s)

Oriard (Jimeno et al, 1995)

100 Abersten (2010)

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000
Maturing Time (h)
Concrete Filling Structural Concrete Project Limits
Trans Vert Long
Figure 7: Some of the monitored vibrations on maturing concrete comparing with Oriard’s
recommendation (Jimeno et al, 1995) and project limits (Abersten, 2010).

Furthermore, based on the concrete’s age, a range of PPV limits were established for the Third Set of
Locks project. These limits were used to define the maximum allowed instantaneous charge for each
blast, which required special attention for charging and delay timing design. As a consequence, MIC
restrictions required the use of decks techniques in several occasions. Figure 7 presents some of the

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vibration data monitored on maturing concrete structures with different ages, compared to the
established project limit criteria (Abersten, 2010) and Oriard’s recommendations (Jimeno et al, 1995).

Maturing Concrete

Figure 8: Blast TSL-BR-0321, near maturing concrete structures. One deck per hole split the
charge in two parts, with a maximum instantaneous charge of 4.5kg (9.9 lbs.).

Moreover, special drilling and blasting technique with long PVC cased holes was used in the final
excavation’s works on the south access channel located south-west of the new locks, connecting the
Pacific Entrance to the new locks. The construction of a cofferdam permitted the excavation and
construction of the locks structures in dry conditions. The final phase for the south access was carried
out by dry and underwater blasting. Thus, dry overburden blasting was carried out from April 2015 until
November 2015, with 31 blasts to remove 371,000 m3 (485 thousand yd3) of rock.

Figure 9: (a) Overview situation of dry overburden area and main sensitive structures nearby; (b)
overview area after excavation/dredging.

Three main requirements were considered during the blast design assessment for the dry overburden.
The first requirement was the maximum allowed fragmentation size, which required P95% < 300mm
(11.8 in.) in the basalt layer to for efficient excavation by the dredger equipment selected. The top

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material would be removed by alternative equipment. The second requirement was related to the
guarantees related to the final excavation level (to avoid toe formation), since the excavation levels had
to be achieved in one single blast (no benches). A third requirement was the potential impact of ground
vibrations and hydrodynamic shock waves on nearby structures. The cofferdam and the dike’s structure
respectively allowed a peak particle velocity limit of 140 mm/s (5.5 in./s) and 50 mm/s (2.0 in./s) with
critical distances of 100m (328 ft.) and 200m (656 ft.).

Pillar #1 Pillar #25 Cofferdam

Cofferdam Limits 140 mm/s

100
Pillar Limits 50 mm/s

Peak Particle Velocity (mm/s)

10

1
1 10 100
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 10: (a) Main structures around overburden blast area; (b) vibration resulted from
overburden blast in Pillars #1 and 25, and Cofferdam.

Seismographs were installed to monitor the impact of these blasts in long blastholes on sensitive
structures. The main structures were the Cofferdam and Pillar structures (specially, Pillar #25), Figure 9
and Figure 10(a). Finally, the dry overburden area was successfully completed after 31 shots and
vibrations were kept bellow project limits, as observed in Figure 10(b).

Pacific Access Channel 4

The fourth phase of the excavation works on the Pacific Access Channel, known as PAC-4, required the
excavation of 26 million m3 of unclassified material for the construction of a 3.5km (2.2 mi) navigation
channel and a 2.3km (1.4 mi) long Borinquen Dam 1E (Figure 1) that separates the Miraflores’ lake
from the new channel. This project connects the new locks on the Pacific side to the Culebra Cut located
in near the Centennial Bridge. 10.5 million m3 (13.7 million yd3) of rock were blasted in almost 900
shots, consuming around 4.4 million kg (9.7 million lbs.) of explosives in the 5-year project.

Production Blasting were dominant in all PAC-4 excavation. The excavation in the channel and surrounding
quarries usually required conventional production blast design. The most usual blasting patterns used were
4.0x4.0m (13.1x13.1 ft.) and 3.0x3.0m (9.8x9.8 ft.), both with an 89mm (3.5 in.) borehole diameter. The
charge was done with doped watergel and the timing was done with a non-electric initiation system. The
average bench height was 7.5m (24.6 ft.), but sometimes, depending of the excavation area and other
requirements, benches of up to 18.2m (59.7 ft.) high were blasted. In general, good breakage in floor was

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observed, allowing decreasing and even eliminating subdrilling. The average powder factor was 0.41kg/m3
(0.69 lbs./yd3).

Figure 11: (a) Typical pre-split cross-sections; (b) Pre-splitting results in Pedro Miguel Formation.

Contour blasting was essential to guarantee the stability of final slopes of the Pacific Access Channel
excavation. The final slopes were designed with 10º inclination in benches of 5 meters (16.4 feet)
(Figure 11(b)). A borehole diameter of 76mm (3 in.) with spacing varying from 0.7m (2.3 ft.) to 1.0m
(3.3 ft.) was used. The most common charge design was a combination of an 80g/m (376 gr./ft.)
detonating cord as column charge, with a 400g (6173 gr.) emulsion cartridge at the bottom, leaving the
last meter for the stemming. A 6-10g/m (28-47 gr./ft.) detonating cord was used to connect the 80g/m
(376 gr./ft.) detonating cord with the surface connectors. The surface connections were also carried out
with 6-10g/m (28-47 gr./ft.) detonating cord (Figure 11(a)). The pre-splitting blasts were frequently shot
together with some production rows, at least 100ms earlier.

100

90 Traditional Fragmentation

80 High Uniformity Fragmentation

70

60
Passing (%)

50

40

30

20

10

0
1 10 100 1,000
Particle Size (mm)
Figure 12: Conventional fragmentation size distribution compared to high uniformity
fragmentation size distribution observed in columnar Basalt.

Fragmentation size distribution curves can be observed in Figure 12. These curves come from
production blasting carried out in the main channel excavation. The common rock factor varied from 7

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to 11 for Basalt rocks and could increase up to 13 for the Pedro Miguel formation or massive Basalt. The
fragmentation size distribution of blasting in columnar basalt was naturally uniform. The regular
distribution of columns in vertical, horizontal or inclined orientation leads the generation of a particle
size distribution formed by polygonal prismatic shape pieces. These structures were predominantly
hexagonal in cross-section, but polygons with different sides and size were also observed. Hence, this
special geomechanical configuration, where the maximum particle size was strongly dominated by the
rock mass structure, permitted an aggressive drilling pattern campaign.

Conclusions
A seven-year program to shape the new Panama Canal has been successfully completed with the use of
diverse blast design and solutions applied to the Pacific Complex’s and Gatun’s Lake excavation. More
than 3,000 blasts using complex techniques have been carried out to excavate 30 million m3 (39 million
yd3) of rock. Undesirable environment impact effects have been controlled as a result of a conscientious
a ground vibration monitoring and studying program, using at least six seismographs devices to monitor
each blast. Fragmentation size distributions achieved have been satisfactory according to the final use of
the rock - concrete plant, rockfill material for the Borinquen Dam or other uses. This immense and
challenging excavation work of the Panama Canal expansion project, perhaps the most important
engineering feat of the decade, would not have been possible without specialized blasting solutions.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Dredging International, Grupos Unidos por
el Canal (GUPCSA) and ICA-FCC-MECO (PAC-4).

References

ABERSTEN, L. (2010): “Planning of Blasting Close to Concrete Structures”. Internal Report. Not
published. Design and Construction of the Third Set of Locks.
ACP (2009): “Geological and Geotechnical Investigations for the Borinquen Dam 1E and PAC-4”.
Geotechnical Engineering Branch. Engineering Division. Engineering and program management
department. Panama Canal Authority, ACP. Geotechnical Data Report
ACP (2006a): “Proposal for the Expansion of the Panama Canal-Third Set of Locks Project”. Autoridad
del Canal de Panama.
ACP (2006b): “Technical Analysis of Disposal Sites for Work on Panama Canal Post-Panamax
Channels and Locks with Gatun Lake at 9.14 m PLD”. Panama Canal Authority, ACP.
Department of Engineering and Projects. March 2006.
LOPEZ CANO, M.; COUCEIRO, P.; RODRIGUEZ CALVO, C. E. (2010): “Marine Blasting on the
New Panama Canal”. Proceedings of the 38th Conference on Explosives and Blasting
Techniques, ISEE: International Society of Explosives Engineers.
LOPEZ JIMENO, C. LOPEZ JIMENO, E. AYALA CACERDO, FRANCISCO JAVIER (1995),
“Drilling and Blasting of Rocks”. Geomining Technologic Institute of Spain.

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