Many would be surprised to know that the Panama Canal runs north
to south to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, not east to
west.
By shortening the route and reducing the cost of transportation
between the two oceans, the Panama Canal allows for lower-cost
imported goods and commodities in many part of the world. (It
saves almost 8,000 miles on a trip from New York to San
Francisco.) By eliminating for the majority of shipping the
treacherous route around the tip of Argentina, it has no doubt
saved countless lives and millions of dollars in lost vessels.
However, it is estimated to have cost some 30,000 lives in the
two attempts – French and American – to build it between 1880
and 1914.
Reducing the distance between the two oceans provides Panama
with a major share of its gross domestic product. Some 13,500
ships transit the canal each year, almost 40 a day.
Not commonly known is the fact that the two oceans have
different sea levels, and different levels of high tide. At the
entrance to the Panama Canal, the Pacific Ocean can rise as much
as 20 feet, but 45 miles away, the difference between high tide
and low in the Atlantic is just three feet.
The longest part of the canal, sandwiched between gigantic sets
of locks at either end, is manmade Gatun Lake and the Gaillard
Cut. Gaillard Cut actually rips through a low point in the
mountain chain that runs all the way from Alaska to the tip of
Argentina.
The Panama Canal has six locks, three near either end. From the
Pacific Ocean, near Panama City, the Miraflores Locks' two
chambers each raise vessels 27 feet. A short distance away, the
Pedro Miguel Lock lifts shipping a further 31 feet. Most of the
passage through the canal is at 85 feet above sea level.
The Gaillard Cut is followed by the town of Gamboa, where the
Chagres River enters the canal. Without the Chagres and the
immense amount of water that flows from it, there could be no
Panama Canal.
The three steps of the Gatun Locks each lower ships about 28
feet, to the level of the Atlantic Ocean.
The locks are gravity fed from the Chagres and Gatun Lake. No
pumps are needed. Water pours through a huge culvert in the
center wall of each lock, a culvert so massive that a locomotive
could pass through it. Other large culverts pass through the
side walls. Water fills or empties through vents along the
bottom of the locks, 26 million gallons in just eight minutes.
Each lock chamber is 110 feet wide and 1,000 feet long, and each
gate weighs 700 tons. When the Panama Canal was completed in
1914, the locks were large enough for the largest vessel in the
world to pass through. And since then, most marine architects
have been careful to design hulls with the canal's measurements
in mind. That changed in 1934 when the Queen Mary was launched.
She was 118.5 feet wide, but it didn't matter: she was built for
transatlantic service, like the Queen Elizabeth, launched a
little later.
But shipping economics call for ever larger loads. There has
been talk for a number of years about widening the canal, one
possibility being the construction of wider parallel locks
beside the existing ones. One limiting factor could be the
availability of water in greater volume. Other options that have
been discussed, including building a canal at sea level that
would need no locks. One problem with this is the current that
would be created because the oceans are at different levels.
Another option that Panamanians don't even want to think about
is the original idea: to build a canal through Nicaragua.
All naval vessels except aircraft carriers can squeeze through
the Panama Canal, and do so without damage, though the
occasional battleship loses some paint. The flight deck on
aircraft carriers is angled to give greater runway length, and
they cannot clear the canal. The world's largest oil tankers
cannot make it, either, and have to offload their cargoes to
smaller vessels at terminals on either end.
Apart from being the crossroads of the world's shipping, the
Panama Canal is a great attraction for tourists. There are daily
cruises that ply either the whole length or part of it. It's an
excellent way to view part of Panama's history, past and present.
To learn more about some of the interesting places to see in
Panama, visit http://www.yourpanama.com/travel-to-panama.html
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