Click here to subscribe to
Planet-Profit Report, reporting on sustainable development in the Western United States.

Taking on the Panama Canal

MWH is leading the design for the $5.25B expansion project, touted to save fresh water by 60 percent

H20 equals big business – take the $5.25 billion Panama Canal expansion project, for example.

Water and climate change will be driving forces in global development in the 21st century. As the world faces environmental and natural resource challenges, “wet infrastructure” companies like MWH will find great opportunities for growth.

The Broomfield, Colo.-based company provides management, technical engineering and construction services for such needs as coastal restoration, water supply and treatment and hydropower. MWH is leading the design work on the Panama Canal expansion – a project the company says will reduce fresh water use in the canal locks by 60 percent.

We recently talked with MWH President and Chief Operations Office Alan Krause about the Panama Canal and other work it’s doing around the globe.

Watch a video of the interview on our website and look for part two of the conversation in an upcoming edition of PPR.

Planet-Profit Report: Tell us about what MWH is doing in the Panama Canal. It’s a huge project, and you’re one of the two U.S. companies involved.

Alan Krause: Our role has been as the lead designer for the new set of locks that are being constructed and designed in Panama. They actually started in 1939, and they were suspended because of the war. Now we’re taking that early excavation and design, and we’re advancing it into a much more sustainable and efficient system. It’s one of the biggest civil engineering projects in the world today.

PPR: You’re using 60 percent less water with the system you’re designing. Tell us about that.

Krause: The fresh water that comes into the locks was wasted and not reused in the original locks. The new design is to use water-saving basins, which allows us to reuse the water and recoup about 60 percent of that water so you’re not wasting fresh water. The fresh water element is required because you have a freshwater lake between the two locks on the Atlantic and the Pacific side. It is a wildlife preservation that is remarkable. It was our responsibility to preserve the water in the locks themselves.

PPR: This is a long, complicated project. How long have you been in the planning for this?

Krause: We actually started working in Panama on this set of locks in 1939, so that was over 70 years ago. At that time, they were designed to provide a second level of security when the Panama Canal was owned and operated by the U.S. government.

This process was solicited by the Panamanian Canal Authority last year. We awarded the project as part of a design build in July of last year, had some very intense negotiations for about six months, and then we started work right around the first of the year.

The plan is to have the canals designed and then the new set of locks designed and completed by 2014 -- which is exactly 100 years since the first canal was completed by the U.S. government.

PPR: Access to clean water is one of the most significant problems the world faces in developing nations. Tell us about some of the work you’re doing in other countries.

Krause: We believe we’re the world leader in water overall, both in water and wastewater, water supply, water resources and the conversion of water through kinetic energy into energy. We believe it’s a market and a field that’s critical to development in the world, both in developed countries and in developing countries. We’re working in 38 countries today … from Africa to Asia, throughout the Western hemisphere. It’s a very important part of our culture and our vision.

PPR: Tell us about some of the problems you face when you’re going into these projects. What are the stumbling blocks you face in some countries?

Krause: I think the biggest issue is making sure that when we take on a job, it’s a job that we can complete through beginning to end and provide a source of clean water or perhaps a source of energy derived from water. It’s very challenging to go into developing countries because they lack the infrastructure to do that, the connection to other water sources or transmission lines, if you’re transmitting power from water from a hydropowered facility.

The other big challenge that we have is that it’s very difficult to find the necessary funding that can fund the development of these projects. We seek support from multilateral banks; we work a lot with the World Bank, the IFC (International Finance Corp.), International Trade and Development (the U.S. Trade and Development Agency). And those are all areas where we work to combine financing with the ability of designing and constructing these projects.