Panama Metro is a recently finished urban transportation system in the Panama City, capital of Panama.

Panama metro Line 1 first line started being built in 2010 and started operating in 2014. It is 16km long with part of the line undergroup, and part elevated.

Following the success of the first line, a second line has now entered construction phase and should start operation by the end of 2018.

Pier columns For this large construction project, Dextra has been involved between 2011 and 2012 (linea 1) and since 2015 (linea 2) for the structural reinforcement of the large pier columns in the elevated packages of the line.

On both lines,
Bartec coupler solution, popular in Panama, was chosen to reconnect vertically the large prefabricated cages made of #11 rebar.

To perform that application, cages are prefabricated together on the ground before being split by unscrewing couplers all on the same side. The cages are then transported to site.

Once lifted and put on top of each other, with the same bars matching the one they previously splice, the cage reconnection can then be made with the use of a standard
Bartec couplers.