Panama plans $2B fourth bridge

Panama’s government says the Fourth Bridge over the Panama Canal is 35% complete and still on track for delivery in October 2028. (mop.gob.pa) (laestrella.com.pa) The update came April 8, when the Ministry of Public Works took the Panamanian Chamber of Construction to the site and called the bridge one of the government’s most important mobility projects. (mop.gob.pa) The structure is designed as a steel-and-concrete cable-stayed bridge, the kind that hangs its roadway from fanlike cables tied to tall towers. Panama says those H-shaped towers will rise 186 meters, and the main bridge span will run 965 meters. (laestrella.com.pa) (mop.gob.pa) Panama says the crossing will have three lanes in each direction and a dedicated corridor for Metro Line 3’s monorail, tying Panama City more directly to the fast-growing Panama Oeste side of the canal. (laestrella.com.pa) Officials have framed the project as a traffic fix for the western suburbs, where existing crossings at the Bridge of the Americas and Centennial Bridge have struggled with daily congestion. The Public Works Ministry has said the job will affect more than 1.7 million people and speed trips for more than 70,000 vehicles a day. (mop.gob.pa) (laestrella.com.pa) The bridge now looks like a restart story as much as a construction story. Panama awarded the contract in 2018, but redesign disputes, financing problems and a 2020 suspension left the project crawling until the government and the Chinese-led consortium signed an addendum to resume execution. (mop.gob.pa) (fundacionandresbello.org) A 2024 financing package helped move it forward. Arnold & Porter, which advised Panama, said the deal combined about $120 million in short-term notes with roughly $1.5 billion in senior secured notes due 2032. (arnoldporter.com) Construction has accelerated this year. On February 23, the ministry said crews poured the first segment of the right pile for the East Main Tower, marking the formal start of vertical construction on one of the bridge’s two main towers. (mop.gob.pa) Officials have also highlighted the less visible parts of the job: foundations, access viaducts and interchanges on both sides of the canal. Vice Minister Iván De Ycaza said the bridge alone is not enough if the east and west approaches are not finished with it. (laestrella.com.pa) (mop.gob.pa) Panama has also tied the bridge to jobs. The ministry said in August 2025 that construction would generate more than 3,000 direct jobs in 2026 and 2027 as work ramps up. (mop.gob.pa) If the schedule holds, the Fourth Bridge will open in 2028 as Panama’s biggest active transport project moves from foundations and tower work to the crossing itself. (mop.gob.pa) (laestrella.com.pa)