How the Panama Canal Works

How the Panama Canal Works is a blog post by Tim Urban in the blog Wait But Why. It explains the Panama Canal and how it works.
The following section was written by the AI chatbot Claude-Instant, with revisions by Superbattleshipyamato.
The Panama Canal was built to reduce the arduous journey for ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Prior to the canal, ships had to go around the bottom of South America, adding around 8,000 miles and significant time and costs to the voyage. The French first attempted to build the canal in 1881 but abandoned the project due to engineering challenges and high worker mortality. The U.S took up the project in 1904 under Theodore Roosevelt and finished it by 1914. The total cost of the canal was $921 million, which would be over $100 billion today adjusted for inflation and GDP. 
Contrary to some perceptions, the canal is not a straight trench cut through Panama. Rather, it functions like a man-made river running across the surface of the land. Ships ascend to an elevation of 85 feet above sea level at the highest point in the canal. The Panama Canal employs a series of locks to allow ships to ascend and descend in steps, keeping them level at all times. There are three sets of upward locks and three downward locks. This locking system was a major feat of early 20th century engineering when first constructed. Schematics are provided showing the layout of the canal and locks as well as an animation demonstrating how the locks work, with heights exaggerated for clarity.
Category:Mini posts