These actions ensure the stability of the tunnel and its readiness for the next construction phases. To date, the tunnel built by the Panama Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) shows a 70% progress in excavation and structural preparation, and 52% in the complete underground section, which includes the Natan sector and the trenches. This historical progress has been made possible by the continuous work of more than 100 people operating in three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Subsequently, specialized work will be carried out, including cutter wheel maintenance, mechanical component and welding inspections, electrical system checks, oil changes in critical areas, and the installation of pump 2.2. To ensure the operability of the TBM during this stage, all necessary auxiliary systems will be transferred from Farfán, including ventilation, grout plant, compressors, generators, and chemical tanks, which will be reinstalled in the Balboa area. In parallel, while maintenance work is being carried out, work continues on the already excavated section, including the verification and alignment of structures, the installation of invertbox (structural bases), and the placement of beams for monorail traffic. For the first time in the country's history, a TBM has successfully passed under the navigation channel of the Panama Canal, thus completing the first excavated section of the tunnel, as part of the construction of Panama Metro Line 3, one of the region's most ambitious and strategic infrastructure projects. With this important milestone, the Panama TBM arrives at the Balboa exhaust shaft, where it will remain for approximately three months for a comprehensive technical stopover. This translates into faster, safer, and more dignified mobility; it is about recovering hours of life that are currently lost in traffic and turning them into time for family, rest, and well-being. Once the maintenance and the drag process in Balboa are completed, the TBM will continue its final journey of approximately 1.5 kilometers to Albrook, where it will be removed, culminating its mission in the construction of the tunnel for Panama Metro Line 3. Metro Line 3 represents a decisive step in the transformation of mobility in the country and will benefit more than 500,000 residents of West Panama by offering a modern, safe, efficient, and sustainable development-aligned transportation system. The news about the completion of the crossing under the Panama Canal by the Line 3 TBM and its arrival in Balboa was first published in La Verdad Panamá. These results confirm the technical magnitude of the project and its constructive complexity. The maintenance in Balboa will be carried out in several phases. This process is key to ensuring the safe and efficient continuity of the work before its final section. Since starting its operations on September 18, 2024, in the Farfán Industrial Complex, the machine has excavated 3.1 kilometers of tunnel, installed 1,560 concrete rings, and excavated more than 800,000 cubic meters of material, a volume equivalent to 320 Olympic swimming pools. A concrete sign that the future is near. Most of them are Panamanian professionals, trained with the support of international experts from more than eight nationalities. 'Panama Metro Line 3 is much more than an infrastructure project: it is a promise of development, equity, and progress that we are fulfilling today, step by step, with responsibility, commitment, and a clear vision for the future of our country,' said Engineer César A. Pinzón M., General Director of the Metro. Emphasizing that for the thousands of residents of West Panama, this milestone represents more than just a number or a construction stage. In a first stage, visual inspections, mechanical reviews of the main components, and electrical verifications of the systems will be carried out.
