On the occasion of the USD 3.1 bn Panama Canal expansion launching today, we’re taking a second look at the project, and the New York Times has by far the most insightful and authoritative piece written to date. The c. 7,500-word feature deploys actually-useful animated graphics to explain how the new extension works and delves deeply into the controversies surrounding the project’s bidding, design and construction.

Leaks: “During water tests in the canal… photographs and video showing water gushing from concrete in one of the Pacific locks — the same locks near the earthquake faults… This was no small leak… To fix the problem… the decision was made to reinforce… A smaller leak was soon found on the Atlantic side. A month after the first leak was discovered in the Pacific lock, further cracks were found during a new test… There is little unanimity about what exactly went wrong and what should have been done about it.”

On the use of tugboats guiding enormous neo-Panamax ships down the expansion: Head of the canal tugboat captains’ union Ivan de la Guardia is quoted as saying: “We don’t think it’s going to work. We think it’s going to be a real mess. I think something awful is going to happen.” (Read The new Panama Canal: A risky bet)