PANAMA CITY, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Panamanian government is planning to build a bridge or a tunnel across the Panama Canal near the Atlantic coast, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said on Wednesday.

    The authorities will invite bidders for a contract in January. The winning company must analyze and present the feasibility of building a bridge over the Canal or a tunnel across the Canal.

    Both alternatives will be studied independently, the ACP said.

    "It is estimated that the presentation of the studies will last seven months," and a committee formed by engineers will be in charge of evaluating the proposals, and it is possible to hire external advisors to guarantee efficiency, the ACP said.

    Panama began to modernize the Canal in 2007 and is scheduled to finish the work in 2014 at the latest, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Canal. The project will cost about 5.25 billion U.S. dollars.