Evening star., 1911-05-27
THE PANAMA CANAL,
uLCONSTRUCTING THE LOCKS.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

AS the integrity OF the great isthmian
waterway will depend upon the dams, sc
will it's successful operation depend upon
the locks. The canal is fifty miles long
from deep water in the Atlantic to deep
of thirty-two miles in length is eighty
FIVE feet higher than the two ends. This
section of the canal would be utterly use
less II 1t were not for the locks that will
enable ships to climb up and down from
level to level. These locks are, In fact
gigantic marine stairways. arranged like
a double-tracked railway so as to per
NIT one ship to go up while another
comes down at the same time.
Climbing up, ship will be imprisoned
in a huge concrete basin. into which ad-
ditional water will be admitted until the
level is raised sufficiently for the vessel
to float out on the surface Of the next
higher step. Coming down, a ship will
go into such a basin and the water will
be let out until the vessel is at the
level of the chamber below. Three such
steps will take the ship from the lake
level to the sea level.
The two side-by-side locks, including
both outside walls, are approximately $50
feet wide. The outside walls are fifty
feet thick at the base up to a height of
twentyfour feet, when they begin to
taper in six-foot steps until they are only
eight feet thick at the top. which is
| middle wall. dividing the two locks, is
sixty feet thick all the way up At
Gatun there will be flight of three of
these double locks, forming three huge
up or down. as the case may be, twenty
eight feet and four inches.
The Gatun locks are at the Atlantic
end of the canal. At the Pacific end the
flight. two steps being taken at Mira
flores. where the Pacific sea level ends,
and another a little more than mile
farther inland at Pedro Miguel.
To be big enough for a ship larger than
any that ever has foated the lock cham
bers are 10
Will Accommodate Ship feet wide in
Thousand Feet Long. enough saas xh' ''te te
accommodate a ship a thousand feet
long. Thus the total length of the three
locks in the flight at Gatun is more than
3.OO0 feet.
Running the entire length Of the three
walls Of the locks, Immediately above the
floor level, are three big tunnels. almost
large enough to carry double-tracked
standard-gauged railroads. They have
each a diameter OF eighteen feet. and
through them will be carried down from
the lake above the water to operate the
locks.
Connecting with these three huge tun-
nels Is a series Of smaller culverts eight
feet in diameter. which run across the
locks under the floor From these come
up through the floor large number of
holes each about two feet In diameter.
The water is first admitted into the big
tunnels, from them into the ones beneath
the floor and through the sieve-like floor
into the lock chamber itself. When a ship
seeks to pass down out of Gatun lake
TO the sea-level ditch the upper gates are
opened and electric towing locomotives
pull Ii into the first lock. Then the gates
are closed behind and huge valves are
opened in the big tunnels leading to the
lock below. and soon enough water has
level with the water in the lock next be-
low the gates and valves at its lower
end having been closed.
The machinery for operating the giant
valves in the culverts and for swinging
the huge gates open and shut will be sta
and will be driven by electric current
generated at large hydroelectric plant
at Gatun spillway. 1t will he SO arranged
that IL anything goes wrong with the
current 1t still can be operated by hand.
The system Of protecting the locks. from
injury in operation Is elaborate beyond
anything ever be-