[DoughtyOne]

Oh yes chairman. Well no our problems aren't that bad. Yes we have a couple of minor leaks, but we've got it under control. We have some bracing nearby, and a big patch will take care of this.

Oooo, they call up firing squads for less than this...

[SampleMan]

That is a really, really bad pour. No one on that job knew what the hell they were doing.

That can’t be patched. It has to be removed and re-poured.

[Wingy]

It's either global climate change or Bush's fault.

Really, the concrete plant is on site so the pour shouldn't be constrained by time. I mean they shouldn't run into a traffic jam, right? If the distance is too far from the plant to the pour, simply delay the addition of water until they are closer to the pump site. I'm not any kind of expert, and I'm not there, but from the outside looking in, it seems someone was asleep that day.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

DHMO strikes again.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Colonel Goethals was not available for comment.

[mikey_hates_everything]

I’m sure a little epoxy injected into those cracks will fix things right up just like on my foundation. Then again, my foundation wasn’t holding back thousands of tons of water. Oh well, as long as Panama doesn’t deport its beautiful Colombian prostitutes, it will still be ok in my book.

[Vinnie]

If the Chicoms are involved you know the concrete is adulterated/inferior in some way.
Could they be using salt water in the mix?

[trebb]

Great shades of Jimmuh Carter....

[The_Victor]

Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), the main contractor for the Third Set of Locks project,

Cause third world contractors never cut corners so save money on materials....

[C. Edmund Wright]

They’re talking about a canal in Nicaragua now......

[Rebelbase]

Vibrator? We don’t need no stinkin’ vibrator.

[Does so]

Just throw some sawdust upstream. That’ll stop the leak until after the final inspection. :)

[Labyrinthos]

Holy Rebar!

[RoosterRedux]

They should have consulted Trump. He knows a thing or two about good concrete.

[WVKayaker]

In the 70's, I worked as a certified concrete technician in NC. I had responsibility for mix design and everything that happened until we got our 28 day test breaks. Later in my life, I became a General Contractor, building homes and commercial projects, making lots of people happy (and a few that were never going to be satisfied, but that's another story!)

During the three years I worked there, we worked on the Cape Fear River bridges near Wilmington, high rise condos at Kure Beach, and the NUCLEAR power plant near Southport. There were lots of folk looking over my shoulder, and my ass!

WE always got good results, because it was MY ASS on the line. I take pride in those results.. I can look at the results and know that I did what was necessary, not only to make money for the company, but to help make sure people were safe.

That core sample in the article is the worst example of concrete I have ever seen. EVER...

There is only one recourse for that place, IMHO. Destroy and start over. Of course, they will just continue and people maybe will die. Dead! Murdered by incompetence and thievery.

Concrete is easy to crew up. It is most often ruined by addition of too much water to make it easy to handle. BUT, concrete production is like baking. You must maintain constant control of the ingredients, and the proper placement. No doubt, they missed those classes!

[Nip]

I have to wonder.

Does this third set of locks have a dam to prevent uncontrolled releases?

If not and the new set of locks fail, IMHO a very likely event, the entire Panama Canal System would fail as Gatun Lake drains. Bottom line: No Gatun lake no short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. And it would take years for the Lake to refill itself.

[US_MilitaryRules]

We’re going to need a bigger pump!

[Iscool]

All gravel and no cement...Course it’s cheaper that way...

[GOPJ]

This was given free to Panama... we damn well better NOT be paying for it.

[Amagi]

Jimmah Carter (universally recognized as the worst president in the history of the United States prior to Obama) needs to lead a Habitat for Humanity crew of libtards to fix the mess that he in essence created by giving the Panama Canal away.
I'd give anything to see Jimmah on that scaffold with his little hammer.