Sioen Industries NV, a leading producer of technical textiles, fine chemicals and high-tech protective clothing, has supplied advanced PP geotextiles needed for the construction of the water saving basins that are being used as part of the Panama Canal Expansion project.

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. These new locks increase canal width and depth required for modern container ships. The new locks require 18 water saving basins – nine on the Atlantic side and nine on the Pacific side.

Advanced PP geotextiles

Manifattura Fontana S.p.A., part of the Sioen Industries group, supplied advanced PP geotextiles used for construction of the water basins. These were heat-bonded with a PVC geomembrane in order to achieve a robust liner. The Sioen nonwoven geotextile acts as anti-puncture layer and increases the tensile strength of the waterproofing liner.

For this project, Sioen’s Manifattura Fontana supplied approximately 800,000m² of lightweight geotextile for the PVC waterproofing membrane and more than 100,000m² of heavy-duty geotextiles (where extra protection was needed because of ballast).

Panama Canal expansion

Since the original construction of the Panama Canal in 1881 and the inauguration in 1914, this is the largest project at the canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

After the expansion the Post-Panamax vessels will be able to transit through the Canal, with up to 13,000/14,000 TEUs. The expansion is expected to double the Canal’s capacity, having a direct impact on economies of scale and international maritime trade.

The Panama Canal expansion is based on six years of research, which included more than 100 studies on the economic feasibility, market demand, environmental impact and other technical engineering aspects. Works on the Panama Canal Expansion began on September 2007 at a total cost of US$ 5.2 billion.

Sioen Industries

Sioen Industries has an extensive portfolio of products and activities, which include spinning, weaving and coating, manufacturing of garments, production of fine chemicals and processing of technical textiles.

Sioen believes that vertical and horizontal integration, diversification and permanent growth provide the company with a major technical advantage and better R&D. The company’s main focuses are on customised products, high end, specialised products, recyclable/recycled products, integrated features, and intelligent textiles.

www.sioen.com