Panama Canal to get new upgrade within 25 years

COLON, Panama: The Panama Canal, which is in the midst of a massive expansion, will likely get a new upgrade within 25 years to meet increasing capacity demands, its administrator said Tuesday.
The canal, one of the greatest feats of 20th-century engineering, celebrated 100 years of operations last month, but is facing increasing competition from the larger Suez Canal in Egypt and the threat of a massive new Chinese-built canal being planned in Nicaragua.
The current $5.3-billion expansion, which will add a third set of locks to the canal, is running a year behind schedule after getting bogged down in a dispute between the government and builders over $1.6 billion in cost overruns.
Administrator Jorge Quijano indicated a new expansion would be needed soon.
“In 25 years I’m sure the fourth set of locks will be built,” he told journalists at a ceremony to bury a time capsule with objects related to the current expansion project, to be dug up in 25 years’ time. But he declined to discuss exactly when a new upgrade would be needed or how much demand was expected to grow.