• More than 32 projects from at least 20 countries around the world participated in the award.
• Key elements in choosing the winner were: safety performance, innovations, challenges, design quality, and construction.

The US magazine Engineering News-Record (ENR), referencie in the construction industry and responsible for providing news, analysis, and industry official data worldwide, published this week the results of the seventh edition of Global Best Projects, a competition that praises the effort, dedication and work carried out by the teams in charge of the design and construction of works that represent a fundamental reference in the field of engineering.

This year, ENR highlighted the performance in terms of safety, innovation, quality and the challenge that building each project completed between January 2018 and April 2019 presents, with a special focus on the diversity of global project teams and their collaboration, besides considering the range of these works and the population benefited by them.

To this end, more than 32 projects from at least 20 countries were considered during this competition, where OEC (Odebrecht Engineering & Construction) won the Airport / Port category as Best Global Project, thanks to the construction of the “International Airport of  Tocumen Expansion Project “.

This work is born with the firm purpose of meeting a demand of 25 million passengers a year, positioning Panama as the Hub of the Americas in terms of transportation and safety, consolidating the country as a logistics, commercial and tourist center through air connections in global scale.

In January 2019, Terminal 2 was the epicenter of the world scene when the first five doors of Terminal 2 opened to receive thousands of participants of the World Youth Day.

This stately terminal of 873 m long, 30 m high and 116,000 m2 of built area is formed by 4 levels. The Arrivals Level includes 60 migration points, shopping areas, technical rooms and administration, including an advanced baggage handling system capable of processing 6500 suitcases per hour.

“Being part of the team that participated in this prestigious contest, represents a great pride as a professional and member of this incredible project. The recognition received internationally demonstrates the hard work done by all the members of this project. This work will be the face of the country for many years and demonstrates the capacity and value of the workforce of Panamanians. “Arturo Montes / Engineer Responsible for Planning.

The Tocumen International Airport Expansion Project has generated around 5,500 direct and indirect jobs, of which 98% are local labor, contributing to the creation of more jobs in the country and the continuous improvement of the service sector. commercial and tourist offering a world class airport for Panamanians and visitors from around the world.