The Panama Canal Authority’s US$5 billion expansion project has fallen six months behind schedule, which could mean that the new locks will not be operational until 2015, authority officials announced on national television.

“The company is trying to catch up with lost time,'” said Alberto Aleman Zubieta, the authority’s chief executive officer. Problems arose late last year when officials determined that the concrete for the project did not meet specified standards.

More at Breakbulk