# Could A Second Panama Canal Be (Economically) Justified? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680 "2013-07-16T16:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/21 "2013-07-18T07:52:23Z")
You can read all the full argument for it’s justification directly here from the Investment group thats looking to fund this. [http://hknd-group.com/trends-in-global-shipping-trade-demand-a-new-canal/](http://hknd-group.com/trends-in-global-shipping-trade-demand-a-new-canal/) They claim a 240% increase in traffic between east and west by 2030. Thats the sort of time scale they are looking to make this economically justified over. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/22 "2013-07-18T12:43:58Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > It won’t work because you can’t work “Nicaragua” into a catchy palindrome. [It works in a song, though.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyC1l7LR180) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/23 "2013-07-18T13:02:23Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > You can read all the full argument for it’s justification directly here from the Investment group thats looking to fund this. > [http://hknd-group.com/trends-in-global-shipping-trade-demand-a-new-canal/](http://hknd-group.com/trends-in-global-shipping-trade-demand-a-new-canal/) > > They claim a 240% increase in traffic between east and west by 2030. Thats the sort of time scale they are looking to make this economically justified over. Of course, the growth of “3-D printing” is going to put the Chinese out of business, so be wary!😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/24 "2013-07-18T16:05:28Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > You can read all the full argument for it’s justification directly here from the Investment group thats looking to fund this. > [http://hknd-group.com/trends-in-global-shipping-trade-demand-a-new-canal/](http://hknd-group.com/trends-in-global-shipping-trade-demand-a-new-canal/) > > They claim a 240% increase in traffic between east and west by 2030. Thats the sort of time scale they are looking to make this economically justified over. They’re expecting traffic to more than triple in the next 17 years? That seems… optimistic :dubious: Meethinks the 240% figure is more of a hope than an expectation. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/25 "2013-07-18T16:58:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > An agua, a cigar, Nicaraugua! I see what you didn’t do there. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/26 "2013-07-18T17:14:49Z")
I wonder if the people thinking about a 2nd canal are also figuring into the equations traffic thru the future NE and NW passages. While seasonal and all, if you’re canal traffic falls off for 3 months during the summer, that’s going to hurt your numbers. Also, could the Nicaraguan financiers survive a modest price war with Panama? I don’t think they’ve thought their cunning plan all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/27 "2013-07-18T17:37:17Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Of course, the growth of “3-D printing” is going to put the Chinese out of business, so be wary!😉 They also claim that the Nicaragua Canal will be able to accommodate the Super-Post-Panamax ships that can’t fit through even the expanded Panama Canal, but don’t explain how they are going to do this. This will of course call for the construction of even larger locks and a much wider canal over a much greater distance. Another factor to consider is where they will get the water to operate the locks. The only way that the new larger Panama Canal locks are feasible is that they will recycle some of the water that operates them (but they can’t recycle all of it). Presumably the Nicaragua Canal will also have to use some kind of recycling system. But even so, the Lake Nicaragua watershed gets no more than 2500 mm of rain a year. Most of the Panama Canal watershed gets at least 2500 mm of rain, and parts may get 5000 or 6000 mm a year. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/28 "2013-07-18T17:39:06Z")
[Quote=coremelt] You can read all the full argument for it’s justification directly here from the Investment group thats looking to fund this. [http://hknd-group.com/trends-in-glob...d-a-new-canal/](http://hknd-group.com/trends-in-glob...d-a-new-canal/) They claim a 240% increase in traffic between east and west by 2030. Thats the sort of time scale they are looking to make this economically justified over. [/QUOTE] They also claim that the Nicaragua Canal will be able to accommodate the Super-Post-Panamax ships that can’t fit through even the expanded Panama Canal, but don’t explain how they are going to do this. This will of course call for the construction of even larger locks and a much wider canal over a much greater distance. Another factor to consider is where they will get the water to operate the locks. The only way that the new larger Panama Canal locks are feasible is that they will recycle some of the water that operates them (but they can’t recycle all of it). Presumably the Nicaragua Canal will also have to use some kind of recycling system. But even so, the Lake Nicaragua watershed gets no more than 2500 mm of rain a year. Most of the Panama Canal watershed gets at least 2500 mm of rain, and parts may get 5000 or 6000 mm a year. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/29 "2013-07-27T00:56:21Z")
> [@](#): > > They also claim that the Nicaragua Canal will be able to accommodate the Super-Post-Panamax ships that can’t fit through even the expanded Panama Canal, but don’t explain how they are going to do this. This will of course call for the construction of even larger locks and a much wider canal over a much greater distance. If you want to handle ships that big, you’ll need some sort of locks that would be easily detected. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/30 "2013-07-27T03:33:03Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > If you want to handle ships that big, you’ll need some sort of locks that would be easily detected. Locks of pretty much any size are “easily detected.”😉 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/31 "2013-07-29T07:10:18Z")
What happens when the advent of 3-D Printing makes Chinese industry collapse? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680/32 "2013-07-29T10:01:46Z")
3-d printers will put China out of business the same way home cooking closes down restaurants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-second-panama-canal-be-economically-justified/663680.md?page=1)