Yair . . . The talk has been around for a while but I see some Chinese outfit has the green light to do a full feasibility on digging a ditch through Nicaragua taking larger ships than the Panama Canal. If it happens it will be interesting to see the methods and equipment mix. Cheers.
I saw that as well. Interesting history of the the project is that the Nicaragua route was one of the original routes for the Canal. The two routes were hotly debated before choosing the Panama route. Nicaragua and Costa Rica have had a border dispute on the river that is a key to making that project work, I don't know if it has been worked out or not. I don't have the time at the moment to research links but the history of the Panama Canal and the alternate route in Nicaragua is a very interesting read.
A brief timeline of the history of the Nicaragua canal - http://www.salon.com/2013/06/13/a_glance_at_the_history_of_nicaragua_canal_plans_2/singleton/ The Nicaraguan/Costa Rican dispute over the water way - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica–Nicaragua_San_Juan_River_border_dispute No doubt Uncle Sam is backing CR in this dispute with the current turn of events and a competing canal is planned.:cool2 I have been fortunate enough to have visited the Panama Canal - it is an engineering marvel and deserving a spot on anyones bucket list.
Video Of The Original Construction Here is a link for the original excavation: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1a1_1248640755