

Nicaragua gives Chinese firm contract to build alternative to Panama Canal - damian2000
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nicaragua-china-panama-canal

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otoburb
>>According to a bill submitted to congress last year, Nicaragua's canal will
be 22 metres deep and 286 km (178 miles) long - bigger than Panama and Suez in
all dimensions.

The wording is interesting. It's a plus that Nicaragua's planned canal will be
deeper, but you don't really want ot be bragging that a new alternative is
going to be longer. If I was a stakeholder in this project, I'd much rather
that the government did everything possible to make the new canal deeper,
wider and _shorter_ than existing alternatives.

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qbrass
I'd probably try and downplay the length, but Panama was chosen because it was
the narrowest point. It was really important when you had to dig it by hand. A
canal in Nicaragua can't be shorter than the Panama canal, but it does have
the advantage of being further north. If spending more time going through this
canal is still quicker than heading down to Panama and back, you're at a net
gain.

