Photo: Michael Dempsey/The Jersey Journal

The expansion of the Panama Canal, which will allow the transit of much larger ships through new locks,  is like a large stone dropped in the center of a quiet lake. The ripples are being felt on every shore.  This Saturday, the semi-submersible heavy-lift ship Zhen Hua 10 steamed under the Varrazano-Narrows and Bayonne bridges in New York harbor, with three new container cranes on deck to accommodate the larger container ships which will be soon able to transit the expanded canal. The new cranes cost $40 million and are  part of the investment being made in response the expansion of the Canal.  Drivers bound to or from Staten Island this weekend were reminded of the largest component of the project.  The Bayonne Bridge, which is being raised to allow larger ships to pass under at a cost $1.3 billion, was closed again for construction this weekend.

The canal expansion is having an impact on ports around the US and the world.  Ports upgrading their facilities iinclude Miami; Baltimore; Savannah; Los Angeles; Jacksonville, Fla.; Lake Charles, La; Freeport, Bahamas and Charleston, S.C.  The Panama Canal expansion is currently scheduled to be completed around the end of 2015.