OEC works in Panama win international award

The Colón Urban Renewal Projects and Line 2 of Panama’s Subway were announced as winners in the eighth edition of the Global Best Projects award from the renowned American magazine Engineering News-Record (ENR). The Urban Renovation of Colón received the award for “Best Global Project” in the Renewal / Restoration category, while Subway Line 2 received the “Merit Award” in the Rail category.

The Global Best Projects seeks to reward projects and construction challenges completed in the year preceding the competition. For this edition, the construction of each participating project had to be completed between January 2019 and April 2020.

This year there were 30 winning projects, from 21 different countries, distributed over 6 continents. The jury responsible for the selection assessed the performance in safety, innovation, challenges, quality in design and construction, with special emphasis on global diversity with which the work teams were formed. They also considered how the projects benefit the local community and the construction industry in their country.

“In short, these awards are a recognition of the work and commitment of each of the members who have been part of the development of these projects, from concept to delivery. Every contribution is important and, thanks to the teams’s great effort, we deliver works that stand out locally and internationally and benefit thousands of Panamanians. My congratulations to all the members who made this great achievement possible,” said Pedro Pinheiro, DPA Panama.

In previous years, works executed by OEC in Panama were also awarded in several categories of this important global competition, among which we can mention the projects of Urban Renewal in Curundú, Cinta Costera III, Sanitation of the City and Bay of Panama and Expansion of Tocumen International Airport, the latter in 2019.

This year, the eighth edition of the Global Best Projects Awards will be presented virtually. It will take place on September 17th and can be watched through the magazine’s website: https://www.enr.com/global-best-projects/mailing-list

About the Urban Renovation of Colón:

The work was carried out in the province of Colón, Republic of Panama. Its main scope was the construction of the Altos de los Lagos neighborhood, with which more than 25,000 Colón locals benefited from decent housing. The residents have a local police base, a fire station, commercial areas, an institutional service building, soccer and baseball fields, basketball courts, parks and playgrounds for children.

The project also included improvements to the infrastructure and public services in downtown Colón and the restoration of buildings of social interest to provide better conditions for the Colón community. Its construction was carried out by the Nuevo Colón Consortium, composed of CNO and CUSA.

Subway Line 2

The second line of the Panama subway is composed of 16 elevated stations. The project benefits more than 500,000 residents in the eastern sector of Panama City, distributed in 98 communities and 48 educational centers located along 21 km of the line. At the peak of the work , over 6,000 jobs were generated. The project was in charge of the Line 2 Consortium, formed by CNO and the Spanish FCC.