The consortium, which also includes Spain's Sacyr Vallehermoso and Italy's Impregilo, significantly undercut its rivals. It expects to be told in the coming weeks that its bid, valued at some €3.12 billion, has been successful.

It's little wonder, then, that Meriel De Decker, communications officer of Jan De Nul Group, is proud of this achievement. "This really is a mega project. It's one of the largest hydraulic schemes for many, many years. To be involved so heavily in one of the most prestigious engineering projects in the world is, rightly, a great source of pride to us. That a Flemish company is involved reflects very well on our expertise, knowledge and experience."

The three firms submitted proposals, costs and technical designs back in March when the whole tendering process was shrouded in secrecy. To allay fears over corruption, the cost estimates were kept in sealed envelopes in a vault at the government-owned Panama national bank along with the project's target price. Deloitte was hired as a contracting auditor to monitor the technical evaluations.

The envelopes were recently opened in a ceremony in Panama City that was broadcast live on TV. A computer and projector were used to tally points for each bid based on cost and technical specifications. The front-runner scored marginally better than its rivals on technical issues and, even more so, on costs.

The entire project is valued at a cool €5.25 billion with construction of the new locks designed to ensure that trade between Asia and North America continues to pass through the waterway. The project will double the canal's capacity and accommodate a new generation of super-size container ships.

The Jan De Nul bid was well under the Panama canal authority's target price of $3.48bn and, said De Decker, appeared to meet all the technical requirements. "This event marks a critical milestone for the Panama Canal Authority and Panama - and also, because of its sheer size, for ourselves," said De Decker.

The Flemish company, created in 1938 by its founder Jan De Nul, now enjoys a global reputation as one of the world's top dredging companies. It was most recently in the news following the release of its crew from the vessel Pompei, captured some months ago by Somali pirates It has a worldwide workforce of 4,500 and its Belgian base is at Hofstade-Aalst, north of Brussels.

The new locks, one on the Atlantic entrance, the other on the Pacific Ocean, will consolidate Central America's position as a gateway for global trade. "As far as shipping is concerned, this is massively important as it is the single biggest shipping infrastructure project since they built the original canal," says De Decker.

The project, which needs 5,000 workers, is due for completion in 2014 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the original inauguration of the canal, an engineering achievement considered one of the modern wonders of the world that cost more than over €600 million to build. More than 25,000 workers died during the 10-year construction.

Despite the economic crisis, the 80-kilometre waterway needs widening due to the rise in shipping traffic - which means that there are long queues of vessels waiting to use the canal. Some ships pay large sums to jump the queue - last year the US cruise ship Disney Magic laid out a record $331,200 (€233,300) to speed its way through the canal.

The canal, which moves about 5% of the world's cargo, relies mainly on container traffic between Asia and the US eastern seaboard. But a new generation of vessels - which measure 1,400 feet in length - cannot fit in the canal, which means that Panama risks losing them to the Suez canal and US railways which transport containers coast to coast. The longest vessel expected to fit in Panama's planned new lock system is about 1,200ft.

De Decker told Flanders Today that the work involves building six new lock chambers, each of which will have a similar size to the famous Berendrecht lock in Antwerp, currently the largest in the world.

"During the five-year construction period, 40 million cubic metres of soil will be excavated and five million cubic metres of concrete will be poured," said De Decker. "Once complete, the capacity of the canal will increase by about 80%."

Although work on the locks will not start until next year, some of the other work is already well under way. Hillsides have been blown up and a six-kilometre access channel on the Pacific side - which will permit passage of vessels three times heavier than the current limit - has nearly been completed.

The biggest headache is the construction of a third set of locks. These will measure 1,400ft long, 180ft wide and have a 50ft draft - all significantly larger dimensions than the present canal. Catch basins will recycle 60% of the water used to fill the locks, in contrast to the present system which flushes it all out to sea.