Panama Canal: Challenge of connecting two oceans of different levels. Connecting two oceans of different levels The Panama Canal: Many would be surprised to know that it 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. Tides quite different 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. Water supply 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. No ship larger until 1934 Each lock chamber is 110 feet wide and 1,000 feet long. Each gate weighs 700 tons and is seven feet thick. Each side is 65 feet wide. 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: the build a canal through Nicaragua. Battleships lose some paint All U.S. 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.

Panama Canal | Article about Panama Canal by The Free Dictionary Panama Canal | Article about Panama Canal by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Acronyms , Wikipedia . Panama Canal, waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic (by way of the Caribbean Sea) and Pacific oceans, built by the United States (1904–14, on territory leased from the republic of Panama Panama , Span. Panamá, officially Republic of Panama, republic (2005 est. pop. 3,039,000), 29,760 sq mi (77,081 sq km), occupying the Isthmus of Panama, which connects Central and South America. ..... Click the link for more information. ) and expanded by Pamana (2007–16). The canal, running S and SE from Limón Bay at Colón on the Atlantic to the Bay of Panama at Balboa on the Pacific, is 40 mi (64 km) long from shore to shore and 51 mi (82 km) long between channel entrances.

The Pacific terminus is 27 mi (43 km) east of the Caribbean terminus. The minimum depth is 41 ft (12.5 m). From Limón Bay a ship is raised by Gatún Locks (a set of three) to an elevation 85 ft (25.9 m) above sea level, traverses Gatún Lake, then crosses the Continental Divide through Gaillard (formerly Culebra) Cut and is lowered by Pedro Miguel Lock to Miraflores Lake and then by the Miraflores Locks (a set of two) to sea level. The average tidal range on the Atlantic side is less than a foot (.3 m); that on the Pacific side is 12.6 ft (3.8 m). U.S. Interest in a Canal Building an interoceanic canal was suggested early in Spanish colonial times. The United States, interested since the late 18th cent. in trading voyages to the coast of the Pacific Northwest, became greatly concerned with plans for a canal after settlers had begun to pour into Oregon and California.

Active negotiations led in 1846 to a treaty, by which the republic of New Granada (consisting of present-day Panama and Colombia) granted the United States transit rights across the Isthmus of Panama in return for a guarantee of the neutrality and sovereignty of New Granada. The isthmus gained more importance after the United States acquired (1848) California and the gold rush began, and the trans-Panama RR was built (1848–55) with U.S. capital. At the same time, interest in an alternate route, the Nicaragua Canal Nicaragua Canal, proposed waterway between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. One often considered route would be 172.8 mi (278 km) long and would generally follow the San Juan River, then go through Lake Nicaragua near the southern shore and across the narrow isthmus of Rivas ..... Click the link for more information. , was strong in both Great Britain and the United States. Rivalry between the two countries was ended by the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, concluded (Apr.

19, 1850) at Washington, D.C., between the United States, represented by Secretary of State John M. Clayton, and Great Britain, represented by the British plenipotentiary Sir Henry Bulwer. ..... Click the link for more information. (1850), which guaranteed that neither power should have exclusive rights or threaten the neutrality of an interoceanic route. In the 1870s and 80s the United States tried unsuccessfully to induce Great Britain to abrogate or amend the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. After the United States acquired territory in the Caribbean and in the Pacific as a result of the Spanish-American War Spanish-American War, 1898, brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists. ..... Click the link for more information. (1899), U.S. control over an isthmian canal seemed imperative.

Following protracted negotiations, a U.S.-British agreement (see Hay-Pauncefote Treaties Hay-Pauncefote Treaties , negotiated in 1899 and 1901 by Secretary of State John Hay, for the United States, and Lord Pauncefote of Preston, British ambassador to the United States, for Great Britain, with the object of modifying the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, concerning the ..... Click the link for more information. ) was made in 1901, giving the United States the right to build, and by implication fortify, an isthmian canal. It was then necessary for Congress to choose between Nicaragua or Panama as the route for the canal. French Attempts Meanwhile a concession for building a sea-level canal in Panama (granted 1878) was acquired by a French company under Ferdinand de Lesseps Lesseps, Ferdinand Marie, vicomte de , 1805–94, French diplomat and engineer. He entered the consular service in 1825 and was minister to Spain (1848–49).

Later, while serving in Egypt, he conceived the idea of a Suez Canal, and in 1854 he obtained from Said Pasha, ..... Click the link for more information. . Work began in 1881, but poor planning, disease among the workers, construction troubles, and inadequate financing drove the company into bankruptcy in 1889. Amid charges of corruption and mismanagement, French courts transferred (1894) the rights and assets to a new company. Although the alternate Nicaragua route was favored by the United States, an American representative of the French company, William Nelson Cromwell, began working vigorously to interest the United States in the Panama route, and Philippe Bunau-Varilla Bunau-Varilla, Philippe Jean , 1859–1940, French engineer, prominent in the Panama Canal controversy. An engineer after 1884 in the original French company for building the canal, he was chief engineer before the company went bankrupt in 1889 and was the organizer (1894) ..... Click the link for more information. , a leading figure in the new company, devoted himself to the cause. When a U.S.

commission recommended a canal through Nicaragua in 1901, Bunau-Varilla persuaded the French directors to reduce the price of the company's rights, gaining the support of Mark Hanna Hanna, Marcus Alonzo (Mark Hanna), 1837–1904, American capitalist and politician, b. New Lisbon (now Lisbon), Ohio. He attended Western Reserve College for a short time, then entered his father's wholesale grocery and commission business at Cleveland in 1858. ..... Click the link for more information. and later of President Theodore Roosevelt Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858–1919, 26th President of the United States (1901–9), b. New York City. Early Life and Political Posts Of a prosperous and distinguished family, Theodore Roosevelt was educated by private tutors and traveled widely. ..... Click the link for more information. . The commission reversed its recommendation, and Congress authorized purchase of the French company's rights and construction of the Panama Canal. Insurrection against Colombia The Hay-Herrán Treaty Hay-Herrán Treaty , 1903, aborted agreement between the United States and Colombia providing for U.S. control of the prospective Panama Canal and for U.S.

acquisition of a canal zone. It was signed by U.S. ..... Click the link for more information. , signed (Jan., 1903) with Colombia, would have given the United States a strip of land across the Isthmus of Panama in return for an initial cash payment of $10 million and an annuity of $250,000, but the Colombian senate refused to ratify it. An insurrection, involving Bunau-Varilla and other proponents of the canal as well as the regional population, was encouraged by the United States. Panama rose in revolt on Nov. 3, 1903, declaring itself independent of Colombia. Invoking the treaty of 1846, the United States sent an American warship to Panama, and its presence prevented Colombian troops from quelling the outbreak. The new republic was formally recognized three days later, and on Nov. 17 the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed, granting to the United States, in return for the same terms offered Colombia, exclusive control of a canal zone in perpetuity, other sites necessary for defense, and sanitary control of Panama City and Colón.

Colombia's efforts to secure redress for the loss of Panama later resulted in ratification of a treaty (1921) by which the United States paid Colombia $25 million, and Colombia recognized the independence of Panama. Construction and Improvements Construction of a lock canal was decided on in 1906. The first three years were spent in the development of construction facilities, surveys, and disease control. The canal was informally opened Aug. 15, 1914; formal dedication took place on July 12, 1920. The total cost was $336,650,000, and c.240 million cu yd (184 million cu m) of earth were evacuated. Madden Dam, which stores additional water for the locks, was completed in 1935. In 1939 treaty amendments increased Panama's annuity to $434,000 (retroactive to 1934 to offset dollar devaluation), provided for a transisthmian highway, and (at Panama's insistence) abrogated the U.S. guarantee of the neutrality and sovereignty of Panama.

Although in the same year Congress authorized construction of a third set of locks, World War II intervened, and the plans were shelved. In 1955 the annuity was raised to $1,930,000, and the United States undertook to build a high-level bridge (completed 1962) over the Pacific side of the canal. The Gaillard Cut was widened in 1969 to permit two-way traffic. Panamanian Control In the 1960s there was increasing agitation in Panama to achieve greater Panamanian control over the canal, resulting in the negotiation of a new treaty (1967) which failed, however, to gain ratification by the Panamanian government. In 1977 negotiations were successful, and a new treaty was signed. It returned the Panama Canal Zone to Panama while setting up joint U.S.-Panamanian control of the canal until the end of 1999, when Panama gained full control. A separate treaty (1979) guarantees the permanent neutrality of the canal.

In 0ct., 2006, Panamanian voters approved expanding the canal by adding a third series of larger locks paralleling the existing locks; the new locks, whose construction was inaugurated in 2007, opened in 2016, enabling wider, longer vessels with deeper drafts to transit the Isthmus. New shipping channels were also added, existing channels deepened and widened, and the maximum level of Gatún Lake raised. The largest modern merchant ships, however, cannot pass through the expanded canal. Bibliography See G. W. Goethals, The Panama Canal: An Engineering Treatise (1916); M. P. DuVal, And the Mountains Will Move (1947, repr. 1968); D. G. Payne, The Impossible Dream (1972); J. P. Speller, The Panama Canal (1972); G. H. Summ and T. Kelly, The Good Neighbors: America, Panama, and the 1977 Canal Treaties (1988); A. C.

Richard, The Panama Canal in American National Consciousness, 1870–1990 (1990). Panama Canal an artificial waterway in Panama, Central America, that bisects the Isthmus of Panama at its lowest part and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. One of the most important international waterways, the canal passes through a separate zone under the jurisdiction of the USA (see PANAMA CANAL ZONE ). The idea of building an interoceanic canal was first proposed in the early 16th century, but only the development of capitalism made its construction possible. In 1846 the USA imposed on Colombia (then New Granada, which included present-day Panama) a treaty granting the USA duty-free transit across the Isthmus of Panama. Compelled to reckon with Great Britain’s influence in Central America, the USA concluded the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in 1850, under which both parties renounced exclusive rights to a future canal in the region and pledged to guarantee its neutrality.

Taking advantage of Anglo-American rivalries, France established the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique in 1879, but large-scale corruption turned the construction of the canal into a scandal-ridden venture and caused the bankruptcy of the company. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, the USA intensified its efforts to build a canal with the aim of dominating the western hemisphere. In 1901 it concluded the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty with Great Britain, giving the USA the exclusive right to build the Panama Canal. Taking advantage of the national liberation movement of the Panamanian people, the USA supported Panama’s demand for secession from Colombia in 1903 and received as compensation a strip of land for the construction of the canal. In 1904 the US War Department undertook construction of the canal. Although the first vessel passed through the canal on Aug. 15, 1914, it was officially opened only on June 12, 1920.

The Panama Canal is 81.6 km long, of which 65.2 km are on land and 16.4 km on the bottom of the Panama and Limón bays (for the passage of ships to deep water). On the Atlantic slope the canal runs through the valley of the Chagres River, in which the man-made Lake Gatun has been created. On the Pacific slope it passes through the valley of the Río Grande. The lowest elevation of the Culebra (Gaillard) Mountain Watershed is 87 m above sea level. After the widening of the Culebra Cut in 1970, the canal’s minimum width increased from 91.5 m to almost 150 m. In the locks the water is at least 12.5 m deep. The part of the Panama Canal that runs through the Mountain Watershed— across Lake Gatun and through the Culebra Cut—lies 25.9 m above the average sea level. The canal has six sets of parallel locks (three on each slope) with chambers 305 m by 33.5 m. The ships are towed through the locks by electric towing locomotives.

The average time for passing through the Panama Canal is seven or eight hours and the minimum time four hours. Each day an average of 36 ships pass through the canal, whose maximum capacity, if the two rows of locks are used, is 48 ships a day. After the canal was built, ships no longer had to sail through the Strait of Magellan or around Cape Horn, and the direction of several major sea routes changed. The canal is most important for navigation between the eastern and western coasts of the USA and Canada (the sailing distance was reduced 2.5 to 3 times), between the eastern coast of the USA and the Far East, and between the Latin American countries. In 1971 a total of 15,300 ships passed through the canal, hauling 121 million tons of freight, 69 million tons from the Atlantic to the Pacific and 52 million tons from the Pacific to the Atlantic. About 70 percent of the cargo was shipped from or destined for US ports. The traffic flow through the canal has almost reached full capacity.

Moreover, the canal’s locks do not accommodate ships with a water displacement of more than 40,000 tons, including large ocean liners, supertankers, and the largest aircraft carriers. A number of plans have been drawn up for rebuilding the canal or for building a parallel canal. A special commission recommended to the US president the construction of a sea-level canal along the La Chorrera-Lagarto route, about 15 km west of the present canal. As yet no date has been set for the construction of such a canal. Railroads and highways between Panama City and Colón run parallel to the canal. Panama has repeatedly asked the USA for a revision of the unequal 1903 treaty concerning the canal and the Canal Zone. A circuit session of the UN Security Council held in Panama in 1973 discussed this question. In 1974, after the signing of the joint declaration On Basic Principles for Negotiating a New Treaty on the Panama Canal, negotiations between Panama and the USA, begun in 1971, entered a new phase.

REFERENCES Unique Facts About South & Central America: : Panama Canal usa | world | animals | vocabulary | health | science | math | history Panama Canal The Panama Canal is a large canal, 82 kilometres (51 miles) long, that cuts through the isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Because of the S shape of Panama, the Atlantic lies to the west of the canal and the Pacific to the east, reversing the normal orientation. It opened on August 15, 1914. The canal has two sets of canal locks on the Pacific side and one on the Atlantic. At the Atlantic end, the massive steel gates of the triple locks at Gatún are 70 feet (21 m) high and weigh 745 tons each, but are so well-counterbalanced that a 30 kW (40 horsepower) engine suffices to open and close them. Lake Gatún, which is 26 metres above sea level, is fed by the Chagres River, which was dammed to make the lake.

From Lake Gatún, the canal passes through the continental divide at the Gaillard Cut, and then descends to the Pacific first through a single set of locks at Pedro Miguel to Miraflores Lake at 16.5 metres above sea level, and then through a double set of locks at Miraflores. All the locks on the canal are paired so that ships may pass in both directions. The ships are hauled through the locks with small railway engines. The Pacific end of the canal is 24 cm higher than the Atlantic end and has much greater tides. Several islands are located within the Lake Gatún portion of the Panama Canal, including Barro Colorado Island, a world-famous wildlife sanctuary. The dream of a canal across the isthmus of Central America goes back centuries, and there was serious discussion of its possible construction from the 1820s onwards. The two most favorable routes were those across Panama and across Nicaragua, with a route across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico as a third option. The Nicaragua route was seriously considered and surveyed; see Nicaragua Canal. The Panama Railway was built across the isthmus from 1850 to 1855.

The infrastructure of this functioning railroad was a key consideration in the plan to build the canal in Panama. Prior to the Panama Canal's construction, the fastest way to travel by ship from New York to California would have been by "rounding the Horn", the long and dangerous route via Cape Horn (at the southernmost tip of South America). After the success of the Suez Canal in Egypt, the French were confident that they could connect another two seas with little difficulty. In May of 1879, the International Canal Congress was held in Paris. Delegates from 22 nations considered the Nicaraguan route, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, but the majority settled on Panama. Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was in charge of the construction of the Suez Canal, was initially called upon to build the new canal at Panama and construction began on January 1, 1880. The dream of a canal across the isthmus of Central America goes back centuries, and there was serious discussion of its possible construction from the 1820s onwards.

The two most favorable routes were those across Panama and across Nicaragua, with a route across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico as a third option. The Nicaragua route was seriously considered and surveyed; see Nicaragua Canal. The Panama Railway was built across the isthmus from 1850 to 1855. The infrastructure of this functioning railroad was a key consideration in the plan to build the canal in Panama. Prior to the Panama Canal's construction, the fastest way to travel by ship from New York to California would have been by "rounding the Horn", the long and dangerous route via Cape Horn (at the southernmost tip of South America). After the success of the Suez Canal in Egypt, the French were confident that they could connect another two seas with little difficulty. In May of 1879, the International Canal Congress was held in Paris. Delegates from 22 nations considered the Nicaraguan route, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, but the majority settled on Panama.

Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was in charge of the construction of the Suez Canal, was initially called upon to build the new canal at Panama and construction began on January 1, 1880. However, there was a vast difference between digging quantities of sand in a dry flat area and removing enormous quantities of rock from the middle of a jungle. Floods, mudslides, and high mortality rates from malaria, yellow fever and other tropical diseases eventually forced the French to abandon the project. President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States was confident that the United States could complete the project, and recognized that US control of the passage from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans would be militarily and economically important. Panama was then part of Colombia so Roosevelt proceeded to negotiate with the Colombians to obtain the necessary permission. In early 1903 the Hay-Herran Treaty was signed by both nations, but the Colombian Senate failed to ratify the treaty. In a controversial move, Roosevelt implied to Panamanian rebels that if they revolted, the U.S. Navy would assist their cause for independence.

Panama proceeded to proclaim its independence on November 3, 1903, and the USS Nashville in local waters impeded any interference from Colombia. When fighting began Roosevelt ordered US battleships stationed off of Panama's coast for "training exercises". Many argue that fear of a war with the United States caused the Colombians to avoid any serious opposition to the revolution. The victorious Panamanians returned the favor to Roosevelt by allowing the United States control of the Panama Canal Zone on February 23, 1904 for US$10 million (as provided in the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, signed on November 18, 1903). Control of the zone was exercised by the Isthmian Canal Commission during canal construction. The commission was staffed by military officers and initially chaired by Admiral John C. White. The first success of the North Americans was to eliminate the noxious yellow fever that had killed so many construction workers. Based on the work of Cuban doctor Juan Carlos Finlay, Walter Reed had determined in Cuba during the Spanish-American War that the disease was spread by mosquitos. 20,000 French workers had died from it. However, new health measures led by Dr William C.

Gorgas eliminated yellow fever in 1905 and improved general sanitation and working conditions. The first chief engineer of the project was John Findlay Wallace. Hampered by disease and poor organization, his work did not go well and he resigned after one year. The second chief engineer, John Stevens, set up much of the infrastructure necessary for construction of the canal, including building housing for construction workers, rebuilding the Panama Railway to accommodate heavy freight traffic, and devising an efficient system for removing spoil from the excavations by rail. He resigned in 1907. US Colonel George Washington Goethals was the last chief engineer and his management of the project was highly praised. The work was still grueling, but great progress was made. De Lesseps had insisted on a sea-level canal, but the French engineers never found a solution for dealing with Chagres River, which crossed the line of the canal many times. The Chagres was prone to tremendous floods in the rainy season and a sea-level canal would have had to carry its entire drainage. The lock canal plan finally selected by Stevens and built by Goethals harnessed the Chagres by means of a huge earthfill dam at Gatún.

The resulting artificial lake not only provided the water and hydroelectric power to operate the canal locks, but also a water "bridge" covering a third of the distance across the isthmus. Under Goethals's leadership, the engineering work on the canal was broken down into construction of the breakwaters, dams, and locks at either end; and the great task of excavation through the Continental Divide at Culebra, now known as the Gaillard Cut. Even with the change from a sea-level to lock canal, the final volume of excavation was almost four times that initially estimated by de Lesseps. US President Woodrow Wilson triggered the blowing up of the Gamboa Dike on October 10, 1913 thus completing the construction of the canal. Numerous West Indian laborers had worked on the Canal, and official mortality figures were 5,609 lives. When the canal opened on August 15, 1914 it was a technological marvel. A complex series of locks allowed even the largest ships to pass. The canal was an important strategic and economic asset to the US, and revolutionized world shipping patterns. The United States used the canal during World War II to help revitalize their devastated Pacific Fleet.

Some of the largest ships the United States had to send through the canal were aircraft carriers, in particular the Essex class. These were so large that, although the locks could hold them, the lampposts that lined the canal had to be removed. The largest ships able to go through the canal are described as being of Panamax size. The canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it were administered by the United States until 1999 when control was relinquished to Panama. This was the result of the September 7, 1977 signing of the Torrijos - Carter Treaty in which US president Jimmy Carter conceded to Panamanian demands for control. The treaty called for a gradual handover that placed the canal completely under Panamanian jurisdiction by December 31, 1999. The treaty was highly controversial in the U.S., and its passage was by no means certain. It was revealed in 1997 by General Manuel Noriega that the Torrijos government had a plan in effect to sabotage the canal if the U.S. failed to ratify the treaty. Noriega also claims that the invasion of Panama under Operation Just Cause was primarily launched to circumvent the treaty. Panama's Law No.

5 was passed on January 16, 1997 to confirm 25-to-50-year leases for the U.S.-built ports of Cristobal on the Atlantic end of the canal and Balboa on the Pacific end and "operation of the canal" to a Chinese Hong Kong corporation named Hutchison Whampoa operating under the name Hutchison Port Holdings and headed by Li Ka Shing, the wealthiest Chinese individual. Accusations that "Red China controls the Panama Canal" are based on this. Panama Canal facts in brief Panama Canal facts in brief Panama Canal is a waterway that cuts across Panama to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is one of the greatest engineering achievements in the world. On its completion, the canal shortened a ships voyage dramatically, by avoiding ships making this trip travelling around South America, a distance of more than 20,900 kilometres. People of many lands dreamed of building a canal across Central America for hundreds of years. Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the first European to reach the Pacific, saw the possibility of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in the early 16th Century. Throughout the 19th Century the U.S.

and Great Britain considered a canal across Nicaragua, the two nations almost went to war because of disputes over which one would control the proposed canal. In 1846 Colombia signed a treaty with the U. S. to guard all trade routes across Panama and to preserve Panama's neutrality. In 1850, in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, the U.S. and Great Britain agreed to protect the neutrality of a canal to be built somewhere across the Central American isthmus. During the California gold rush in the mid 1800s many prospectors sailed from Atlantic Coast ports to Panama, crossed the isthmus by boat, on mules, and on foot, and then took another ship for California. In 1850, Colombia let a U.S. company to build a railway across Panama, and it was completed in 1855 linking Colon on the Atlantic side and Panama City on the Pacific side. In 1878, Colombia granted a French adventurer named Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse the right to build a canal across Panama. He sold the right to a French company headed by Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps, who had directed the construction of the Suez Canal.

The French also bought control of the Panama Railroad. The digging began in 1882, they planned a canal that would run at sea level, without locks. In 1886, the French to decided to build the canal similar to the present one. De Lesseps and his assistants planned most of the project carefully, and efficiently, but they wasted great quantities of material and effort. A group of dishonest politicians who supported De Lesseps stole large amounts of money from the company. They also lacked the proper tools to complete such a huge digging job and fight the epidemics of tropical diseases that hit the workers. De Lesseps' company went bankrupt in 1889. A second French firm, the New Panama Canal Company, took over the property and franchise in 1894, waiting until a buyer could be found for the franchise. An U S. company started work on a canal across Nicaragua in 1889. But their money ran out of soon after beginning the project. Both the American and French groups tried to get the U.S. Government interested to buy their rights and property. The Panama Railway Company's American owners opposed any Central American canal construction because it would be competing with their interest.

During the Spanish-American War, in the late 1890's the U.S. Government and Congress realised the benefits and the necessity of a canal for national defence. Some Panamanians fearing that Panama would lose the commercial benefits of a canal and the French company worrying about losing the sale of its property to the U.S. The Panamanians, with the help of the French and some encouragement from the U.S., revolted against Colombia, and declared Panama independent. The U.S. sent ships to Panama to protect the Panama Railroad and preventing the Colombian troops from reaching Panama City, the centre of the revolution. The French company managed to convince the U.S. that their offer of Panama rights and property and the Panama Railroad, would be safer, though more difficult terrain than Nicaragua, because of volcanic instability. In the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty of 1903, Theodore Roosevelt gained for the USA the concession from Panama for a 16-km (10-mile) wide Canal Zone under perpetual control of the US government. The United States gave Panama an initial payment of 10 million U.S. dollars and guaranteed Panama's independence and a regular, yearly rental. The U.S.

Congress decided to build a canal with locks, rather than the sea-level canal that the French had originally planned. U.S. Engineers believed that a canal with locks would be cheaper and faster to build and would control the floodwaters of the Chagres River better than a sea-level canal would. The canal was built in about 10 years at a cost of about 400 million U.S. dollars. Thousands of workers using steam shovels and dredges to cut through jungles, hills, and swamps, and fighting tropical diseases like malaria and yellow fever. After World War II and years of negotiations, President, Jimmy Carter succeeded in 1977 obtaining congressional approval of the Panama Canal treaties which provide for relinquishing total control of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone to Panama by 2000, while assuring the Canal's perpetual neutrality. International law requires that the U.S. allow commercial and military vessels of all nations to pass through the canal in peacetime. A treaty signed by the U.S. and Panama in 1977 guarantees that the canal will remain open to all nations even in time of war. The agreement gives the U.S.

the right to use military force if necessary to protect the canal's neutrality. The Canal is nearly 82 kilometres long from Limon Bay on the Atlantic Ocean in a northwest to southeast direction to the Bay of Panama on the Pacific Ocean. The canal has three sets of locks, (waterfilled chambers) which raise and lower ships from one level to another. The locks were built in pairs to allow ships to pass through in both directions at the same time. Each lock has a usable length of 300 metres, a width of 34 metres, and a depth of about 20 metres. The dimensions of the locks limit the size of ships that can use the canal, supertankers and large Aircraftcarriers cannot pass through it. A ship sailing from the Atlantic Ocean enters the canal by way of Limon Bay, near the city of Colon. A canal pilot comes on board from a small boat. The pilot has complete charge of the ship during its trip through the canal. The Gatun Locks are like giant steps. Three pairs of concrete chambers that lift ship about 26 metres from sea level to Gatun Lake. Small electric locomotives called mules run on rails along both sides of the locks.

They help to position, stabilise, pull and guide the ship in the locks. Canal workers fasten the ends of the locomotives' towing cables to the vessel. The locomotives then help to pull the ship, into the first chamber. Huge steel gates close behind the vessel. Valves open to allow water from Gatun Lake to flow into the lock. In the next 8 to 15 minutes, the rising water slowly raises the ship. When the water level is the same in both chambers, the gates in front of the ship swing outward and the locomotives help to pull the vessel into the second chamber. This process is repeated until the third chamber raises the ship to the level of Gatun Lake. Once in the lake the cables get released and the ship sails on under its own power. On the south side of Gatun Lake, is the huge Gatun Dam, this 18-million-cubic-metre earth dam is only second to the Hoover Dam. Gatun Dam created the 422 square kilometre Gatun Lake from the waters of the Chagres River.

As ships reach the south-eastern end of Gatun Lake they enter the 13 kilometres long and 150 metres wide Gaillard Cut, with a minimum depth of 13 metres. It is an engineering term for an artificially created passageway or channel and runs between Gold Hill on the east and Contractor's Hill on the west. In 1913, it was named in honour of David DuBose Gaillard, the engineer in charge of digging between the hills. Dredgers work constantly to keep the channel clear of earth-slides. The Gaillard Cut is only wide enough for one-way traffic, but work began to widen it to accommodate two-way traffic. After the Gaillard Cut, electric locomotives help to pull, the ships into the Pedro Miguel Locks, which lower the vessels 9 metres in one step to the Miraflores Lake. Than the ships sails about two and half kilometres to the Miraflores Locks, where two chambers lower them to the level of the Pacific Ocean. The distances these chambers must lower the ship depend on the height of the tide in the Pacific, which about 4 metres a day.

Tides on the Atlantic side change only about 60 centimetres daily. After the locks, the ships head down a 13 kilometres long channel, passing the towns of Balboa, and La Boca and the Thatcher Ferry Bridge, an important link in the Pan American Highway. In the Bay of Panama the pilot leaves, the vessels as they head toward the open sea. The ships have travelled about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic to the Pacific in about eight hours. More 12,000 ocean-going vessels travel through it yearly, an average of about 34 per day. The Panama Canal Commission is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the waterway. In addition, the commission operates public utilities and provides community, sanitation, security, and transportation services. The Panama Canal Commission collects tolls from ships that use the canal. The amount of the toll paid by a merchant ship is determined by the ship's cargo space. Military ships must pay a toll based on their weight. Some points of interest: 1. One the greatest obstacle to building the Panama Canal was disease. Panama at the time was one of the most disease-ridden areas in the world. Colonel William C.

Gorgas an American doctor, famous for wiping out yellow fever in Cuba, took charge of improving sanitary conditions and to destroy the types of mosquitoes that carried malaria and yellow fever in the Canal Zone. He devoted considerable time and effort clearing brush, draining swamps, and cutting out large areas of grass where the mosquitoes swarmed. He managed to wipe out yellow fever and eliminated the rats that carried bubonic plague, he had also reduced the rate of deaths caused by malaria in the Canal Zone. 2. The construction involved three major engineering projects. The Gaillard Cut had to be excavated, a dam across the Chagres River had to be built to create Gatun Lake, and the canal's locks had to be constructed. The hardest task was digging the Gaillard Cut through hills of soft volcanic material. It was much like digging into a pile of grain as soon as workers dug a hole, more rock and earth would slide into the space, or push up from below. Instead of the estimated 73 million cubic metres of earth and rock the builders had to move more than 160 million cubic metres. 3. At times more than 43,400 people worked on the Panama Canal. 4.

In 1914 the first ship to make the first complete trip through the canal was the Panama Railroad Company's S.S. Ancon sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific and made the canal slogan a reality "The Land Divided, the World United." The two great oceans were united. 5. In 1915 a giant landslide in the Gaillard Cut closed the canal for several months. 6. In 1920 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson officially opened the Panama Canal. 7. Building the canal cost the U.S. about 380 million U.S. dollars, which included the 40 million dollars to the French company, the 10 million dollars paid to Panama, and 20 million dollars for sanitation and 310 million dollars was spent on the actual construction. 8. In 1935 the Madden Dam was completed, the first major improvement on the canal. The Madden Lake stores water for use in Gatun Lake. The dam also holds back the floodwaters of the Chagres River during the rainy season. 9. In 1936, the United States agreed to raise its annual payments to Panama to 430,000 U.S.

dollars. 10. In 1955, the payments were increased to about 2 million U.S. dollars a year. 11. In the 1950's, engineers began to widen the Gaillard Cut from about 90 to 150 metres. 12. A ship travelling from New York to San Francisco can save more than 12,500 kilometres or 7872 miles going through the Panama Canal instead of going around South America. 13. The highest Canal toll was US $ 141,344.91 paid by the Crown Princess, passenger superliner. 14. The lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents by Richard Halliburton for swimming the Canal in 1928. 15. The average time spent in crossing from ocean to ocean is approx. 8 - 10 hours. 16. Until the finishing of the Hoover Dam to form Lake Mead, Gatun Lake was the largest artificial body of water in the world. Site Index Back to Top Photos Index Thanks for coming, I hope you have enjoyed it, will recommend it to your friends, and will come back later to see my site developing and expanding.

I'm trying to make my pages enjoyable and trouble free for everyone, please let me know of any mistakes or trouble with links, so I can fix any problem as soon as possible. These pages are best viewed with monitor resolution set at 640x480 and kept simple on purpose so everyone can enjoy them across all media and platforms. Thank you. Major events in the history of the Panama Canal - CSMonitor.com Major events in the history of the Panama Canal Save for later Saved 1513: Spanish explorer Vasco Balboa discovers that a thin isthmus of land is all that separates the Pacific from the Atlantic Ocean, raising the first discussion of a canal. 1881: Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had directed the engineering of the Suez Canal, begins a $70 million project to build a canal through Panama. Limited funds and epidemics of yellow fever and malaria thwart his efforts. 1889: De Lesseps's company goes bankrupt.

Photos of the Day Photos of the day 02/08 1904: The US Senate passes the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, giving the US control of a 10-mile-wide and 51-mile-long swath of land - the Canal Zone - "in perpetuity." In exchange, Panama receives $10 million from the US, and is to receive annual payments of $250,000 starting in 1913. William Gorgas follows the theory that mosquitoes are linked to yellow fever and malaria. He oversees massive swamp drainings around the Panamanian isthmus, and cases of worker illnesses are drastically reduced. 1906: President Theodore Roosevelt travels to Panama and appoints John Stevens as chief engineer of the canal project. 1907-1913: Approximately 96 million cubic yards of rock are removed from the Gaillard Cut along the Continental Divide - the toughest part to be excavated on the route. 1914: The Panama Canal is opened under US sovereignty, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

1977: Hong Kong-based shipping company Hutchison Whampoa begins port operations at Balboa and Cristobal on both approaches to the canal. Some US politicians will later be concerned about Chinese control of the canal. 1978: President Carter signs the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal is passed, enlisting the US and Panama to maintain joint control of the passage. The Canal was to be handed back in 1999. 1999: US removes its last troops from a military base in November. Panama assumes control on Dec. 31. Source: Encyclopedia Americana; wire services (c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society Next up The Panama Canal This is a Garmin World Map-4 with CenRut's Topo Contours superimposed on it. Profile of the canal locks We entered the canal at about 6:00pm, so there wasn't enough light to photograph the Gatun Locks. Click on the following thumbnails for larger views ..... Approaching the Bridge of the Americas. Panama City is to the right.

We follow a "sister" ship, the United Cool, a ship about the same length as the Pacific Explorer. Two ships of this length can enter the locks together to speed up the general traffic flow. ..... ..... A crew of at least four ACP workers (a pilot and three line handlers) board the Pacific Explorer. Locomotives lined up to assist the ships. The men in the small boat receive lines from the ship and pass them to four (or eight) locomotives, two at the bow and two at the stern. Here's that "floating hotel" again! A ship of that size requires four canal pilots. ..... ... Locomotive on the opposing side. They do not pull the ships, but just keep them centered. The lock gates have opened for the two ships to enter the lock. The structure is a 'swing bridge'. The Hotel cruises into the Pacific. The swing bridge wasn't used after the Bridge of the Americas was built. ..... Lock gates close behind the Pacific Explorer ..... ... This locomotive is one of two that control the bow of the ship. It takes four to guide the ships. And this locomotive has a line attached to the stern.

Each new locomotive costs about $1,000,000. Miraflores control tower. The lock has been filled, so the ship can continue into Lake Miraflores. The Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 turned the canal over to Panama at midnight Dec. 31, 1999. So, since 1999 the canal has been operated by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). The ACP continues to maintain the locks and widen the Gaillard cut. This narrowest part of the canal has been widened from 450' to 630' to allow two-way ship traffic and the widening continues today. Also, fluorescent lights have been placed along the edge of the Gaillard cut to enable safer night traffic. NOTE: Our Captain, Hernán Lara, piloted a ship through the canal on the first day the canal was controlled by Panama.

WhatWasThere | The Culebra Cut in Panama, Panama - 1896 1896 The Culebra Cut Description The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 48-mile (77.1 km) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. There are locks at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake (85 feet (26 m) above sea-level). The Gatun Lake was used to reduce the amount of work required for a sea-level connection. The current locks are 110 feet (33.5 m) wide. A third, wider lane of locks is being built. Work on the canal, which began in 1881, was completed in 1914, making it no longer necessary for ships to sail the lengthy Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America (via the Drake Passage) or to navigate the dangerous waters of the Strait of Magellan.

One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut made it possible for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in half the time previously required. The shorter, faster, safer route to the U.S. West Coast and to nations in and along the Pacific Ocean allowed those places to become more integrated with the world economy. The Gaillard Cut, or Culebra Cut, is an artificial valley that cuts through the continental divide in Panama. The cut forms part of the Panama Canal, linking Gatun Lake, and thereby the Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Panama and hence the Pacific Ocean. It is 12.6 km (7.8 mi) from the Pedro Miguel lock on the Pacific side to the Chagres River arm of Lake Gatun, with a water level 26 m (85 ft) above sea level. Construction of the cut was one of the great engineering feats of its time; the immense effort required to complete it was justified by the great significance of the canal to shipping, and in particular the strategic interests of the United States of America.

More at and User Panama Canal The Panama Canal a 50.72-mile-long man-made channel across the Isthmus of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through which approximately 12-15,000 ships pass every year (an average of about 40 ships a day) The Canal Ships enter the Atlantic (north) end of the canal by way of Limï¿½n Bay, the harbor of the city of Cristï¿½bal. From there, the channel runs south for 7 miles, ending at the Gatun Locks, a series of three locks that raise ships about 85 feet to the level of Lake Gatun, a 163-square-mile lake created by the damming of the Rio Chagres. The 22-mile-long ship channel through the lake follows the old river channel. From Lake Gatun the canal passes through the Gaillard Cut, which is 8 miles long, 500 feet wide, and at least 42 feet deep; originally called the Culebra Cut, it was renamed in 1913 in honor of David DuBose Gaillard, the engineer in charge of digging this part of the channel.

The Gaillard Cut ends at the Pedro Miguel Locks, which lower ships 31 feet to Miraflores Lake. After crossing the 1-1/2-mile-long lake, ships enter the Miraflores Locks, which lower ships to the level of the Pacific, which lies 8 miles beyond the locks. A journey through the Panama Canal takes about eight hours. When a ship exits the canal at the Pacific end it will be 25 miles east of its starting point on the Atlantic end. History Vasco Nuï¿½ez Balboa , the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the American side, was the first to see the benefits of building a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, in 1513, and various European and American interests explored the feasibility of such a canal over the next 300 years. In 1821, what is now Panama became a province of New Granada (now Colombia), which had gained its independence from Spain two years earlier. In 1850, The United States and Nicaragua signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, in which the two nations agreed to joint control over any canal built across the isthmus.

No canal was built, but a group of American businessmen did succeed in building a rail line across the isthmus in 1855. Serious efforts to build a canal began when, in 1878, Colombia granted French adventurer Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse exclusive rights to build a canal across Panama. Wyse sold his franchise rights to a French company headed by Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps, who had directed building of Suez Canal , which broke ground on January 1, 1880 and began actual digging on January 20, 1882. The company faced difficulty from the beginning, especially with mosquito-borne diseases, and went bankrupt in 1889. Another French company took over the franchise in 1894, but it simply halted all work and waited for someone to buy it out. In 1899, the U.S. Congress authorized a commission to survey possible canal routes across Nicaragua, but the commission ultimately determined that a canal across Panama would be much easier and cheaper to construct.

In 1902, Congress gave President Theodore Roosevelt permission to buy the assets of the French company (including the Panama rail line), but only if Colombia agreed to give the United States permanent control over the canal zone. In 1903, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and Colombian representative Tomï¿½s Herrï¿½n signed a treaty wherein the United States would pay $10,000,000 up front and then $250,000 a year for use of a canal zone. The Colombian legislature refused to ratify the treaty, however, because many of its members thought the deal was worth significantly more. The refusal of Colombia to ratify the Hay-Herrï¿½n Treaty angered both the United States and Panamanians. On November 3, 1903, Panamanians, with help from the United States and France, staged a revolt and declared Panama's independence from Colombia.

The United States formally recognized Panama's independence on November 6, and within two weeks the two nations had signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, giving the United States exclusive control over a 10-mile-wide canal zone in return for an initial payment of $10,000,000 and $250,000 a year, beginning in 1913. The United States took formal possession of the French franchise and resumed work on the canal on May 4, 1904. Colonel William C. Gorgas was charged with ridding the canal zone of the diseases that had plagued the French, and Colonel George W. Goethals was put in charge of supervising the construction. The S.S. Ancon, a passenger-cargo ship owned by the Panama Railroad Company, made the first trip through the completed canal on August 15, 1914, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson formally opened the Panama Canal on July 12, 1920.

By the time it was completed, the canal had cost the United States $380 million (including $40 million paid to the French company, the $10 million paid to Panama, and $20 million spent for sanitation work). United States control over the Panama Canal Zone became a source of contention between the two countries almost immediately after completion of the canal, and Panamanians often expressed displeasure with having their country bisected by a region controlled by a foreign power. The treaty that established the Canal Zone gave the United States absolute control over the zone for 99 years, but on September 7, 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian President Omar Torrijos signed a series of treaties in which the United States agreed to give up control over the canal on December 31, 1999; the formal transfer did indeed take place on that date. Connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic: The Panama Canal A ship enters the Miraflores Lock while passing through the canal. Charles the 5th, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, had a problem.

A few years before in 1532 Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador, had defeated and captured the Inca Empire in Peru. The mines of that country were now producing a wealth in silver to be sent back to Spain, but the trip required ships to travel thousands of miles all the way around the tip of South America before they could make their way eastward across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. The king pondered if perhaps there wasn't a better way. In 1513 Vasco Nu�ez de Balboa had discovered that in Central America there was just a narrow strip of land, not much more than 50 miles (80km) wide, separating the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean. Suppose a canal could be dug through that strip of land? It would not only shorten the trip from Peru for the Spanish vessels, it would give Spain a tactical military advantage against its rival in the new world, Portugal. Though the distance was only fifty miles it was one of the most difficult landscapes imaginable to work in combining dense jungles with steep mountains. King Charles ordered the Panama regional governor to survey the area for a canal following the route of the Chagres River.

The governor came to the conclusion, however, that building such a passageway through the rugged terrain would be impossible. Seven Quick Facts -Location: Panama, Central America -Made of: The three sets of locks are composed of concrete and steel. Other: 268 million cubic yards of earth were removed, more than 14 times what was excavated for the Suez Canal which is twice as long. Charles' survey was probably the first serious look at building a ship route across what we now call the Isthmus of Panama, but it would not be the last. When Ulysses S. Grant led a group of soldiers across the isthmus, part of the country of Columbia in those days, while traveling to a post in California in 1852, he became interested in the project. Later he sent several expeditions to the area to look at the possibility of a canal after he became the 18th President in the late 1860's. The first serious attempt to build a canal, however, wasn't made by the Americans, but by the French in 1880. The French Attempt Ferdinand de Lesseps led the project to build the canal.

Eleven years before he had successfully completed the construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The Suez Canal had revolutionized shipping by letting vessels avoid the long trip all the way around Africa to get from the Far East to Europe. De Lesseps thought that a canal across the Panama Isthmus would do the same thing for the Americas. Though the Suez Canal was almost twice as long as the one planed for the isthmus, the terrain there was flatter, making construction easier. In Panama, de Lesseps planned to build a sea-level passage just like he had done at Suez. To make this design work, however, the path of the canal must be dug out all the way down to the level of the oceans so the water can flow freely between the two bodies. This worked well at Suez where the path of the canal covers ground that is only slightly higher than sea level. In Central America, however, it created immense problems. Millions of tons of rock and soil needed to be moved out of the way. Because de Lesseps failed to have a thorough review of the geology of the region done before starting out, the cuts he made through the mountains were too steep.

The frequent rains caused erosion and landslides to occur that would fill the excavations nearly as fast as they could be dug out. A map of the canal (NASA) Even more of a problem than the landslides was the health of the construction workers. Jungle diseases like yellow fever and malaria were rampant among the employees. By 1889 when the French finally gave up the project, almost 22,000 lives had been claimed, some by construction accidents, but most by illness. The Americans Take Over By that time the Americans had become interested in building a canal. They considered an alternate route across Nicaragua, but in 1902 the U.S government decided to purchase the rights to continue the canal from the French for what was then considered a reasonable price: $40,000,000. To firm up their claim in the area, in 1903 the United States supported a revolt in the Panama region against the Columbian government. On November 3rd of that year, Panama declared its independence and the United States immediately recognized the new nation. Through Philippe Bunau-Varilla, a Frenchman serving as Panama's new ambassador, the U.S.

negotiated a treaty to control the zone around the canal. When the Americans started construction in 1904, they had several advantages that the French hadn't. In 1881 Dr. Carlos Finlay of Cuba identified the mosquito as the source of yellow fever infections, though his conclusions were not generally known until his theory was confirmed by Dr. Walter Reed in 1900. When the Americans started their work they invested in extensive sanitation and mosquito-abatement programs and built housing for the workers that had screens to keep insects out. With these procedures in place the disease problem was quickly brought under control. Another advantage was that the Americans used a different design for the canal. Under the direction of Chief Engineer John Frank Stevens, the plan was changed from a sea-level design to one that would use locks. A lock is a device that allows ships to move from one water level to another. The lock is usually a chamber with an open top that is only slightly larger than the largest ship it needs to lift. At each end of the lock are large doors that can be closed to keep the water from the higher body from rushing into the lower body. To raise a ship the doors are opened from the lower body and the ship sails in.

The doors are then closed and water from the upper body is allowed to flow into the lock, lifting the ship until it is at the same height as the upper body. The doors to the upper body of water are then opened so the ship can sail out. To take a ship from the higher body to the lower body the procedure is reversed. A steam-powered shovel moves rock during construction. The plan called for the Chagres River to be dammed to create an artificial lake called Lake Gatun. Ships from the Atlantic entering the canal would go through a three stage lock that would raise them 85 feet up to the level of the lake. They would then sail 28 miles across the lake, up the river and through a section of the mountains called the Gaillard Cut. At that point another set of locks would drop the ships down to the level of Miraflores Lake. Miraflores was another artificial lake 54 feet above sea level and running for a mile down to another set of locks. At that final 2 stage lock the ships would be lowered to the level of the Pacific Ocean and could sail out into the open sea.

Herculean Effort The use of locks greatly reduced the amount of material that had to be removed to complete the canal. Even so, it was a tremendous construction challenge. Stevens had the Panama Railway (which paralleled the course of the canal) rebuilt so it could efficiently handle 115 new heavy-duty locomotives and 2,300 railroad cars needed to move all the dirt. In addition, 102 railroad-mounted steam shovels were brought in to actually do the excavation. The most difficult part of the construction was the Gaillard Cut (now known as the Culebra Cut) where part of a mountain had to be removed to make a path for the canal. The difficult conditions there caused the crews to nickname this section of the jobsite "Hell's Gorge." During construction on the cut, a 20-car train filled with dirt was loaded and removed from the area on the average of every one-and-a-half minutes all day long. The canal cost was approximately $375 million including a payment to Panama and buying the rights from the French.

It was the most expensive project the United States had ever tackled, but was still $23 million less than a cost projection made in 1907. Between the French and American efforts a total of 268 million cubic yards of earth were removed, more than 14 times what was excavated for the Suez Canal. During the American period, 56,307 people were employed in the construction and there were 5,609 casualties due to accidents and disease. The SS Kroonland is towed through the Culebra Cut by two tugboats in 1915. When Stevens left the project in 1907, Colonel George W. Goethals became the chief engineer until the canal was finished. With a herculean effort the project was completed two years ahead of schedule and officially opened on August 15, 1914 with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon. It took about 8 to 10 hours for a ship to make the passage all the way through the canal. After Completion of the Project The United States continued to administer the canal and the surrounding area for many years after construction was completed.

As time went by, however, there was the feeling in Panama that the canal rightfully belonged to the Panamanians, leading to a series of protests in the 1960's and 70's. Finally, a settlement was signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1977 that arranged for the turnover of the canal to Panama by December 31, 1999. Since that date the canal has been operated by the Panama Canal Authority (PCA), part of the Panama government. Since the canal was completed almost a century ago, the size of ocean-going ships has been getting larger and larger. Many can no longer use the canal which has locks only 110 feet (34m) wide and 1052 feet (320m) long. A ship at this upper limit in size (between 65,000-80,000 tons) is called a Panamax. However, there are a number of vessels now in operation which are much bigger that the Panamax standard, some having lengths in excess of 1200 feet.

For this reason there have been several proposals to add a new set of locks to the canal which would accommodate larger ships. In 2007 the PCA selected a design and started on construction of a set of larger locks which they hope to have open by 2014. These will allow the passage of ships almost 1,400 ft (4267m) long by 180 ft (55 m) wide. Two of the massive lock doors are installed during construction. Even without the new locks the Panama Canal remains one of the most amazing engineering feats of the 20th century. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco by the canal can travel less than half the distance that would be needed to go around the tip of South America (5,900 miles compared to 14,000 miles). It has also far exceeded the expectations of those that designed it. In 1934 it was estimated that the canal had a maximum capacity of 80 million tons of shipping per year. By 2009, due to improved equipment and procedures, it handled almost 300 million tons, even without the new, larger locks in place.

In 1994 the canal was named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Copyright Lee Krystek 2011 . All Rights Reserved.

Question: The Gaillard Cut is part of which canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?
Answer: Panama Canal