06/15/2026
Case Study Monday is Back!
How do you prepare to build a massive bridge over one of the most vital shipping lanes on earth? You start by mapping the bedrock under some of the most rugged, difficult terrain imaginable.
GeoView teamed up with an international consortium to tackle a high-stakes geotechnical investigation for the Autoridad del Canal de Panama (ACP), mapping out the subsurface velocity profiles along a 4-kilometer stretch north of the Gatun Lock.
The Challenge
The proposed footprint for the new Panama Canal bridge featured incredibly steep, heavily vegetated, and rugged terrain. Standard drilling equipment couldn’t easily access every location, meaning non-destructive, deep-imaging geophysics was critical to filling in the blanks.
The Technology Deployment
Our team deployed a powerhouse combination of seismic methods to capture both compression waves (P-waves) and shear waves (S-waves) down to depths of 30 meters:
MASW (Multi-Channel Analysis of Surface Waves): Utilizing a Geometrics Smartseis ST seismograph and ultra-sensitive 4½-Hz geophones spaced precisely 1.5 meters apart, we captured data tailored to mapping out the spatial stiffness of the subsurface soil and rock layers.
Seismic Refraction: We coupled that with two Geometrics Geode systems and 40-Hz geophones along sprawling 141-meter arrays. By measuring the travel times of refracted seismic energy, we could accurately profile the deep bedrock interface.
The Breakthrough
The data revealed a stark geological contrast between the two sides of the canal:
The West Bank: The unweathered, solid Gatun Formation bedrock was found to be incredibly shallow—less than 5 meters below the surface.
The East Bank: Bedrock dropped significantly deeper, sitting between 25 to 28 meters down, blanketed by a thick layer of very soft fill and sediments.
Precision Anomalies: We also isolated localized low-velocity pockets, alerting engineers to weathered zones where thicker sediment had pooled over time.
Thanks to these highly detailed P-wave and S-wave velocity models, the engineering team received a flawless blueprint of the foundation conditions—ensuring the future bridge rests on solid ground.