The expansion of the Panama Canal <\/strong>is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects of the 21st century. Enormous quantities of high-quality aggregates were required to build the new containment chambers on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, for use in the production of structural concrete.<\/p>\n The challenge was not just one of scale, as time was of the essence. The project schedule left no room for error: the aggregates had to be produced on site, at full capacity, using crushing and screening systems <\/strong>that had to be designed, built, shipped, assembled and commissioned within an extremely tight timeframe.<\/p>\n ICM has been selected to design and deliver two complete system<\/strong>: one in Miraflores, on the Pacific side, and one in Gat\u00fan, on the Atlantic side. Total value of the contract: 37 million dollars.<\/p>\n First the materials, then the machines<\/strong><\/p>\n Every ICM project begins with a process study<\/strong>: an in-depth analysis of the input material, the required product classes and the necessary production volumes. For Panama, this meant designing two systems capable of producing certified aggregates for structural concrete<\/strong> with a combined instantaneous capacity of the two plants of 4,800 t\/h, and consistent, controllable particle size distributions.<\/p>\n The quarry was treated as a system: from the rock at the quarry face right through to the finished aggregate classes at the concrete plant. An integrated process designed to reduce waste<\/strong>, eliminate unnecessary handling and maximise the amount of material produced per tonne of rock extracted.<\/p>\n Modular engineering: designed in Italy, assembled in Panama<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the distinctive features of the Panama project was its engineering-based approach to construction and logistics. ICM designed the entire system using modular, bolted steel structures manufactured in Italy and shipped to Panama.<\/p>\n 290 containers <\/strong>left Italy carrying the components for the two complete plants. The structures were engineered with pre-drilled connections and standardised interfaces: on-site assembly did not require any welding, thereby drastically reducing time, costs and the need for skilled labour on site.<\/p>\n On the Pacific coast alone, the pre-assembly area covered 30,000 m<\/strong>2<\/sup><\/strong> where components were positioned, checked and prepared before being hoisted into their final positions.<\/p>\n The same applied to the Atlantic coast, which had a smaller pre-assembly area.<\/p>\n Speed as a result of the method<\/strong><\/p>\n The system was built and shipped from Italy in just 4 months<\/strong>, between February and May 2010. On-site installation and commissioning at both sites were completed within six months, from June to December 2010.<\/p>\n This record-breaking timeframe was achieved thanks to a structured engineering approach<\/strong>: standardised components, carefully planned logistics, software for mapping parts on site – which eliminated downtime spent searching for materials across a 30,000 m\u00b2 site – and a project management process that left no room for improvisation.<\/p>\n The Miraflores <\/strong>system, with a production capacity of 3,300 t\/h, remains one of the largest and fastest crushing and screening systems ever delivered worldwide. The Gatun <\/strong>system added a further 1,500 t\/h on the Atlantic side, bringing the total installed capacity to 4,800 t\/h across the two sites.<\/p>\n Both systems produced the aggregates required for the structural concrete <\/strong>of one of the most demanding engineering projects in modern history. The expansion of the Panama Canal <\/strong>was inaugurated in June 2016.<\/p>\n For ICM<\/strong>, the Panama project was the clearest demonstration of what the company\u2019s design philosophy can achieve at the highest level of complexity: a system designed around the process, not around individual machines, delivered with a speed and precision that only a structured approach can achieve.<\/p>\n Whether you are planning a new system , considering a significant expansion of capacity or managing the supply of aggregates for a major infrastructure project, the ICM approach always starts with the same question: what is your material and what is your production target? Everything else is built on that foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The expansion of the Panama Canal is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects of the 21st century. Enormous quantities of high-quality aggregates were required to build the new containment chambers on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, for use in the production of structural concrete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":805,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-803","casi-studio","type-casi-studio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe ICM approach: engineering systems, not just plants<\/h2>\n
The results: a record that still stands<\/h2>\n
Are you planning a crushing and screening system?<\/h2>\n