Final Project
April, 2014
1) Topic: Tell us again the topic that you are planning
to explore.
I plan to explore the idea of the
Smart Interoceanic Level Canal in Chocó, Colombia to connect the Pacific and
Atlantic Oceans. This is a mega project of
paramount importance in the future of commerce and transportation that would
aid not only the North Eastern area of Colombia and the whole country, but also
improve conditions for Latin America and facilitate the commerce for ships from
all over the world.
Chocó
is a Department in Colombia with an important geopolitical location. It is in the Northwest coast of South America
and has coasts on the two oceans Atlantic and Pacific. Natural resources include gold mines, platinum,
wood, among others. These resources have been exploited for hundreds of years
leaving only poverty and underdevelopment.
This project aims at developing a Smart
level canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in Chocó, Colombia to be
used by Ultra Mega Post Panamax Ships of more than 250.000 tons. They will be 80% of the shipping industry in
2030.
The canal will be automatized, so that
the traffic flows smoothly. Two ports, will be built on each coast. Having a
level canal means that there is no need for locks. Some of the automatized
features include:
-
Device to prepay tolls, and register
the ship information.
- Sensors if the tide is high
- Automatic Sodium lights
- Automatic cranes for unloading cargo
and loading it into the
electric
railcars.
-
GPS system and TV monitoring 24/7/365
- Patrol boats to assist ships and
for security
- Two Light houses in the ports
- Living quarters on the two ports
- Continuous dredging systems on the two
ends of the canal.
The reason why I am motivated to do
this project, is because there is extreme poverty in this region of
Colombia. There are no roads, and no potable
water, even though it rains an average of 500” a year. There is no electricity and there is a high
incidence of malnutrition in the children.
In 2012, RCN a National Radio Station in Colombia reported that children
in Chocó were committing suicide because of hunger. Therefore, I feel that an important
infrastructure project needs to be done to develop this area, and to make sure
that children do not suffer hunger and malnutrition.
2) What: Tell us what you learned
by exploring this topic
I have learned that this project
has been dreamt by many different people since the 1800’s.
1. Frederick M. Kelly of New York
sponsored four expeditions searching for the sea level interoceanic
canal. In 1884 the fourth expedition commanded by Captain William Kennish
found the route starting on the Pacific at 7°N. The Paracuchichi inlet
was discovered to be the lowest point of the Baudó range.
Capitain Kennish crossed over and
found the Nercua and Truandó Rivers. He followed them to the Atrato
River and then to the Atlantic Ocean. Kennish recommended two tunnels to
cross the mountain, the rest of the water way was almost flat.
2. Lieutenant Nathaniel Michler
commanded another expedition to confirm Kennish’s findings. Twenty-two
scientists traveled from the Atlantic to the Pacific side. The findings were
published by the US Congress and are now in Google books. Copies of the
illustrations are available from the Library of Congress.
3. The USA Committee for the
Interoceanic Canal evaluated with the USACE thirty possible sites for an
interoceanic canal. They concluded that Route #25 (Atrato-Truandó Rivers)
is the only place for a sea level ship canal. Nuclear explosions were
considered but rejected.
4.The COLOMBIAN LAW IN 1964 ordered
the construction of the Interoceanic Sea Level Canal. Studies were made by
Tippets-Abbee McCarty, Straton of New York. This company is not longer in
existence and the studies were lost in the Archives.
A Topographic map scale 1:25.000 is
available from the Colombian Geographic Agency “Instituto Agustin Codazzi.”
5. A second law in 1984 ordered the
construction of the Atrato-Truandó Canal. A brochure by Mendoza Morales, A. et al is the only
document that was left. Unfortunately, once these laws have been decreed,
no interventions have been done.
3) Where: What city is the student
exploring this topic in. The student would include pictures, maps, or other graphics
if possible showing the topic in their location. Be sure to cite the image
sources.
The department where this project
will take place is in Chocó, Colombia at the 7° N. latitude on the Pacific
Ocean. The canal will start at the Paracuchichi inlet, where a cut in the Baudó range needs to be
done, which will be the lowest point in the mountain to connect to the Atrato
River. Then it will connect to the
Truandó River and exit to the Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean Sea) at the Tarena
mouth.
Two ports at each entry of the Canal
will be designed using smart technology.
Google Maps: Colombia
Municipalities of the Department of
Chocó.
Reference: Fundación Natura
Colombia
Google Maps: Chocó Rivers
Instituto Geográfico Agustín
Codazzi.
Map of the Interoceanic Canal.
Picture by Antonio Restrepo
4) Who: Tell us who you engaged
through this project and how you engaged them. Explain what you learned from
the people you engaged with.
I am working with the Sowing Seeds
for the Future Foundation, a non-profit organization. Dr. Jaime Gómez, is the Director of the
Foundation, a retired physician who is very interested in the project and
providing many of the research and historical background and information about
the canal, the legal aspects and financial information to take this project to
completion.
Information not included regarding contacts, due to not privacy issues.
Many more contacts have been made
in Colombia and this has been a slow process to get the team together, however,
it is a long-term project. We think that
the canal can be build in a period of 5-10 years. Government officials need to be involved as
well as Financial Institutions like the World Bank. We have contacted many Universities in
Colombia, and other countries since there is a need for hydraulic engineers to
be involved. Contact has been made with
the Army Engineers of Colombia, to see how they can participate in this enterprise.
Contact has been also made with the
Native Communities in the area. What I
learned from them, is that they are willing to accept the project, as long as
another small canal is made connecting two rivers and a creek to the Atrato
River, which will facilitate their transportation between cities. Since Chocó is mostly a jungle area, and at
present there are no roads, most of the commerce is done by canoe or boat. Therefore, the canal they are asking to make
would connect two Rivers, the San Juan, the Quito, and the San Pablo creek to
the Atrato River.
The planning of this city involves
an interdisciplinary team with multiple professionals to provide evaluation,
analysis and implementation in the different fields. Chocó also has a diverse cultural population
formed by Indigenous Tribes and Afro Colombian citizens.
Chocó neighbors with Panamá, and
the Panamá Canal which was open 100 years ago in 1914. We have studied the lessons learned from its
construction to avoid the situations which slowed the labor down. The Panamá Canal, even with its expansion and
the building of another lock, will not be large enough for the ships of the
Future. Reason why, we have focused our
attention in the Canal of Chocó.
5) How: Explain how you completed the
project. Include a discussion of how
this project would improve your city.
This is a project that will take
ten years to do from start to finish.
Since there is not much infrastructure in the Canal Zone, the planning
of the ports and connecting cities can be designed having in mind the most
important elements of city planning. One
of the most basic needs that is unmet at this time is the nutrition of
children. There is a high level of
malnutrition due to the lack of available protein in their diet. The cause of this problem is on one hand the
lack of infrastructure to bring food to the area. On the other hand, the illegal mining, has
left pollution in the rivers and the sea, so that the fishing industry is at risk. The project will improve the city, by
planning to meet the needs of the community in an organized fashion. By creating residential and school zones,
that are communicated with the services and the canal, by roads, train, boat
and air. And by developing City
Ordinances to maintain sanitation, and safety.
At this point, the contribution of this project is to create a blueprint
and a standard of how things could be different and how the standard of living
could improve by developing the infrastructure.
a. Data Analysis: What data did you
analyze for this project and what did you find?
Some of the data analyzed has been
historical. Mostly, the information that
has been obtained regarding the best route to build the canal. Since Spanish is the language of Colombia,
Dr. Gomez and myself translated one of the most important books that delineates
the Route # 25 which describes the coordenates and areas to connect the two
Oceans via the Rivers.
b. Design:
Describe the key design elements of
your project.
The canal zone and all the elements
of this project will be planned using smart technologies.
The key elements of this project
are:
1. Interoceanic Canal of Colombia:
1.1 Open cut of Baudó Range at its
lowest point (Curiche inlet 7°N in the Pacific Ocean) three miles
length. NE course for 15 miles, curve
with large radius to the North, straight line to Tarena mouth in the
Atlantic Ocean.
1.2 Electric standard gauge
Railroad, parallel to the Canal. This
will
be an automatized train, which will help
in the canal construction
and afterwards in moving cargo through
the country.
1.3 Two ports at the extremes of
the Canal in Curiche and Tarena
1.4 A Tidal Energy Center in
Juradó, Chocó Latitud: 7.11231, Longitud: -77.772. 4.2 m high tides and a river to
generate
200MW of electricity.
1.5
Industrial development: cement factory, ship and boat slips for
construction and repair, 2 hospitals,
housing for 1.7 million
workers, churches, libraries, schools, airports,
auditoriums,
banks, fire department, offices, police
station, restaurants, roads,
stores, TV and radio stations, etc.
2. 0 CANAL OF SAN PABLO
The Canal of San Pablo is a smaller
canal, requested by the Indigenous citizens of the area. It includes 28.5 miles between Istmina and Quibdó, capital
of Chocó. Istmina is at 246
feet above sea level and Quibdó at 203 feet above sea level, therefore there are 43 feet
difference, requiring a lock of 1,200
feet long, 100 feet wide, and 9 feet deep. This canal will connect the San Juan
and the Atrato rivers, useful as the Mississippi river for barges and
towboats.
3.0 Budget: The Canal of Colombia will have a capacity of
46 vessels a day. For 360 days = ~17.000 vessels a year
. Toll cost per ton is $5. Assuming vessels
average is 20.000 tons that $10.000 times, the expected income is 17.000.000
per year.
c. Challenge: If you
have participated in challenge assignments that are related to your project,
feel free to document the parts that are relevant to your final project.
There are several challenges in the
construction of the canal. On one hand,
the cost of the two canals and the rest of the megaproject is close to $10
Billion Dollars (Interoceanic Canal: $6.5 billion and the San Pablo Canal: $3.5
billion dollars). However, If five dollars are charged as a toll per ton,
the investment will pay capital, interest and will develop a rich area.
Second, the terrain is jungle, very
humid and as mentioned before, it rains 500” per year. Therefore, high infrastructure of health care
must be in place to take care of the workers.
Sanitation of the area, to prevent yellow fever is very important. Unfortunately, thousands of workers died in the
construction of the Panamá canal, since at the time they did not have a vaccine
for yellow fever and malaria.
Third, perhaps due to the
malnutrition in the area, it may be hard to motivate workers to do a difficult
task in a difficult environment. Reason
why the infrastructure must be in place to start the canal, to include
hospitals, housing, schools, churches, entertainment facilities and good
salaries and benefits for workers and their families.
6) Final Product: Is a power point
introducing the Canal project.
No comments:
Post a Comment