Infographic: What is the Panama Canal Expansion Program?

The Panama Canal Expansion is the largest project at the Canal since its original construction. The project will create a new lane of traffic along the Canal through the construction of a new set of locks, doubling the waterway’s capacity.

The Program consists of several components/projects:

New Locks (Third Set of Locks), which is the construction of two lock complexes, which will create a third lane of traffic.
Pacific Access Channel, also known as PAC4, which is the excavation of a 6.1 km-long access channel for the new Pacific locks to bypass Miraflores Lake.
Dredging of the navigational channels along the waterway.
Improvements to water supply by raising Gatun Lake maximum operational level by 45 cm to improve the Canal’s water supply and draft.