There will also be a project to deepen the navigation channels and raise the maximum operating level of Gatun Lake to make sure everything stays operational. Together, the existing canal, and the proposed expansion will, theoretically double the Panama Canals capacity.

The reasoning behind this project is that, the predicted average annual growth rate, of cargo passing through the Canal, is 3%. This means that by the year 2025, the tonnage of cargo traveling through, will be double of that, which passed through in 2005. Therefore by making the Canal able to accommodate larger vessels, efficiency will be improved. There will be fewer transits because each one will carry more cargo, therefore using less water in the process.

Not everyone, however, is so sure that this project is a wise move. Fernando Manfredo, the former Canal administrator, has stated his disapproval, saying that it is irresponsible to base an entire nations financial future, on predictions of canal usage increase over a generation.
Manfredo does not believe that the growth of Canal usage will continue as it has. This is because the majority of the growth is due to US imports from China. It has become increasingly recognized in both the US and China, that the current imbalance in trade between the two nations is unsustainable. However it is not clear whether this imbalance will rectify itself through the slowed increase of China to US exports, or through intellectual property being sent from the US to China. Whatever the future, there are many people, who feel that the continued growth is far from certain, nothing more than a highly optimistic prediction.

Some people see the valid points made by this argument, but there are many more points to consider, such as the estimate that by 2011, around 37% of the worlds containership fleet will not fit through the existing canal, due an increased investment in larger more efficient ships. This means without the increase in capacity, more and more ships will have no choice but to use the competition to the Panama Canal, such as the transpacific-intermodal route and the Suez Canal route. Therefore there are those who feel that, even if the predicted growth does not materialize, the expansion will be needed to keep in competition for those 37%.

\With the views of these people being taken into account, some 76.8 % of the Panamanian voting population chose to vote for the construction, scheduled to finish in 2014, to begin.

The estimated costs of this project, including all administrative, design and construction, as well as contingency plans is $5.25 Billion (USD). With predictions in place that the expansion, will generate enough extra revenue to pay off the costs within 10 years of completion, if all estimates are to materialize as stated.

It is also predicted to create around 40,000 new jobs during the construction process, which can only be seen as good news for the country of Panama. However, even more emphasis has been made about the impact on medium and long term employment that will be brought about through economic growth, caused by the increase in economic activities, due to the expanded canal capacity, which again, can only mean one thing, Good news for Panama.