Gatun Lake and other Man-Made Panama Tourist Attractions December 6, 2015 Gatun Lake & Other Panama Man-Made Tourist Attractions (Editor’s Note – This original post from January 2010 has been updated to reflect current Panama vacation details.) As more and more travelers from around the globe discover Panama, inevitably there has been a significant increase in the number of available escorted and all inclusive Panama tours. While many vacationers visit Panama to explore this country’s Spanish colonial heritage or to enjoy world-class resorts, white sandy beaches and rainforest tours, Panama’s man-made wonders like the Panama Canal and Gatun Lake remain as some of Panama’s biggest tourist draws. Five Man-Made Structures in Panama #1 – 164 square mile Gatun Lake Completed in 1913, it took engineers six years to build the Gatun Dam across the valley floor, just six miles inland from the Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic side of Panama. At the time, Gatun Dam was the world’s largest dam, blocking off the Chagres River to create what was then the world’s largest man-made lake, Gatun Lake.

Water from Gatun Lake is integral to the operation of Gatun Locks, a major part of the Panama Canal project. Ships passing through the Panama Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans travel approximately 15 miles across Gatun Lake. Canal ships must traverse around man-made islands; remnants of the flooded surrounding hilltops. One of these islands is home to the Smithsonian Tropical Research, a privately funded institute. #2 – 48 mile Panama Canal Connects Atlantic & Pacific Oceans The Panama Canal is an engineering marvel and Panama’s largest man-made tourist attraction. It was completed in 1914. Cargo ships and pleasure craft (15,000+ annually) that want to travel between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean no longer have to journey for weeks and over 5000 miles around the tip of South America. Instead, they can traverse approximately 50 miles in a matter of hours through the three sets of locks of the Panama Canal. #3 – Gamboa & Pipeline Road Trail Panama The Gamboa area was once a key stop on the gold trail during Spanish occupation.

The town of Gamboa was established in 1911 as part of the Panama Canal project and is located in the original Canal Zone. Gamboa’s first inhabitants were employees of the Panama Canal construction. Hidden by lush rainforests, Gamboa is now a popular destination for biologists, zoologists and bird-watchers because of its thriving animal and plant populations. In fact, Pipeline Road is widely known for its bird species. The Pipeline Road Trail is used for guided tours that take visitors into some of the most highly regarded bird-watching locations in the world. Gamboa has also become a favorite starting point for avid fishermen who want to try their luck on Gatun Lake. The Rainforest Resort offers excellent accommodations in this beautiful region. #4 – 5,425 foot Bridge of the Americas Panama Many Panama tours also include the Bridge of the Americas on their travel itinerary. This is a “must see” man-made vehicle bridge since its name is derived from the fact that it connects the North American land mass with the South American land mass.

Bridge of the Americas took three years to build, is over a mile wide, and was completed in 1962, and actually crosses part of the Pacific Ocean at the Panama Canal entrance near Panama City, the capital. #5 – Panama’s 3,451 foot Centennial Bridge Panama Completed in 2004, Panama’s Centennial Bridge is another impressive man-made structure, spanning nearly 3,500 feet. Earlier bridges across the Chagres River were built to swing out of the way of the large ships that passed through the canal. Both the Bridge of the Americas and the Centennial Bridge are elevated, non-swinging bridge designs. The Centennial Bridge addressed the need for a new companion bridge to ease the volume of traffic across the Bridge of the Americas. Gatun Lake Part of Caravan’s All Inclusive Panama Tours Get up close and personal with some of the most impressive man-made structures and tourist attractions in Panama like Gatun Lake! Gatun Lake and a Panama Canal cruise are part of Caravan Tours’ all-inclusive Panama Tours , as well as cruising under or crossing over the Bridge of the Americas and Centennial Bridge.

Caravan’s Panama Canal tours are exceptionally priced, fully escorted vacations that include a boat tour of Gatun Lake plus all ground transportation, tour activities, meals, and hotel accommodations. Visit Caravan’s Panama tour reservations page to check tour availability. Call 1-800-CARAVAN (227-2826) today to reserve your spot on a Caravan Panama Canal tour! Panama Canal | canal, Central America | Britannica.com canal, Central America Alternative Title: Canal de Panamá Related Topics Central America Panama Canal, Spanish Canal de Panamá , lock -type canal , owned and administered by the Republic of Panama , that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow Isthmus of Panama . The length of the Panama Canal from shoreline to shoreline is about 40 miles (65 km) and from deep water in the Atlantic (more specifically, the Caribbean Sea ) to deep water in the Pacific about 50 miles (82 km). The canal, which was completed in August 1914, is one of the two most-strategic artificial waterways in the world, the other being the Suez Canal .

Ships sailing between the east and west coasts of the United States, which otherwise would be obliged to round Cape Horn in South America , shorten their voyage by about 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) by using the canal. Savings of up to 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) are also made on voyages between one coast of North America and ports on the other side of South America. Ships sailing between Europe and East Asia or Australia can save as much as 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) by using the canal. A small tugboat leads a large ship out of one of the Panama Canal’s locks. Danny Lehman/Corbis Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest The third lock systems of the Third Set of Locks Project, begun in 2007, were inspired by the Berendrecht lock in Antwerp, Belgium, and water-saving basins used in canals in Germany.

Some 190,000 tons of steel, mostly from Mexico, are entrenched in heavily reinforced concrete to build the lock chambers on the Atlantic and Pacific sides, and the new lock gates measure up to 33 feet (10 metres) wide, 98 feet (30 metres) high, and 190 feet (58 metres) long. The new chambers and basins, which will control the water flowing from Gatún Lake, were designed to minimize the turbulence of water flow and the disturbance to transiting vessels. The basins were completed in June 2016 and include 158 valves consisting of 20,000 tons of structural material. Officials say those water-saving basins are the largest in the world and facilitate a 60 percent reuse of water. Whereas the existing locks use 52 million gallons (197 million litres) with each use, the new locks use 48 million gallons (182 million litres). Breakwaters Long breakwaters have been constructed near the approach channels in both oceans.

Breakwaters extend from the west and east sides of Limón Bay; the west breakwater protects the harbour against severe gales , and the east one reduces silting in the canal channel. On the Pacific side a causeway extends from Balboa to three small islands (Naos, Perico, and Flamenco) and diverts crosscurrents that carry soft material from the shallow harbour of Panama City into the canal channel. Operation Pearl Harbor attack Traffic through the Panama Canal is a barometer of world trade, rising in times of world economic prosperity and declining in times of recession. From a low of 807 transits in 1916, traffic rose to a high point of 15,523 transits of all types in 1970. The cargo carried through the canal that year amounted to more than 132.5 million long tons (134.6 million metric tons). Although the number of annual transits has decreased since then, the canal carries more freight than ever before because the average size of vessels has increased. There were nearly 210 million long tons (213 million metric tons) of cargo through the canal in 2013.

The principal trade routes served by the Panama Canal run between the following points: the east coast of the U.S. mainland and Hawaii and East Asia; the U.S. east coast and the west coast of South America; Europe and the west coast of North America; Europe and the west coast of South America; the east coast of North America and Oceania; the U.S. east and west coasts; and Europe and Australia. Trade between the east coast of the United States and East Asia dominates international canal traffic. Among the principal commodity groups carried through the canal are motor vehicles, petroleum products, grains, and coal and coke . Panama Canal Authority The Panama Canal Authority (Spanish: Autoridad del Canal de Panamá [ACP]) took over management of the canal from the joint U.S.-Panamanian Panama Canal Commission at noon on December 31, 1999. Created by an amendment to the Panamanian constitution as an autonomous agency of the Panamanian government, the ACP is charged with the administration, operation, conservation, maintenance, and modernization of the Panama Canal. It is also tasked with the care, maintenance, and preservation of water resources in the entire Panama Canal watershed.

The watershed is essential to the operation of the canal, and it also supplies water to cities at either end of the canal route. The ACP is governed by a board of directors that consists of 11 members. The chairman, who has the rank of minister of state for canal affairs, is selected by the president of the republic. The legislative branch of the government designates one director, and the remaining nine members are appointed by the president with the concurrence of the cabinet council. They must be ratified by an absolute majority of the legislative assembly. Tolls While the canal was under U.S. administration, tolls for its use were set at rates calculated to cover costs of maintenance and operation, thereby making the canal self-financing. The charge for each transit was based upon the interior cargo or passenger-carrying capacity of a vessel. The rates established in 1914 remained virtually unchanged for 60 years. In 1973 the canal operated at a loss for the first time, and in 1974 the first of several rate increases went into effect. Traditionally, cargoes were carried below deck, and tolls were assessed on goods carried there.

However, because of changes in marine design and the widespread use of containerized cargoes, a large portion of the burden is now carried on deck. The volume of containerized cargo passing through the canal is outranked only by shipments of grain and petroleum products. Those changes led to modifications in rules of admeasurement and the assessment of tolls for on-deck container capacity, and a segmentation system based on vessel type and size was implemented . Following the lead of the Panama Canal Commission, the ACP approved similar changes in admeasurement regulations and retained the U.S. toll rates in effect when the canal was transferred. Cargo ship loaded with on-deck freight containers. © iStockphoto/Thinkstock In 2006 the ACP announced that its expansion programs would be financed by a new series of toll increases, sparking much debate and opposition from canal users. It was not until 2012 that the cabinet council approved a proposal to restructure the Panama Canal’s pricing system, and the two stages of the toll increase were implemented in October 2012 and October 2013. The new toll structure increased the number of segments from 8 to 10.

The tanker segment was separated into three segments: petroleum and petroleum products tankers, gas vessels carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and chemical vessels. Roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessels, which are designed to carry wheeled cargo, became part of the vehicle carrier segment, and the container/break-bulk segment was eliminated. Tolls for general cargo, dry bulk, tanker, chemical tanker, LPG, and vehicle carrier and ro-ro were increased. From the tolls collected, the ACP must pay an annual fee to the Panamanian national treasury. Any surplus remaining after that and the payment of canal operational and maintenance expenses also goes to the treasury. History As early as the 16th century, the Spanish recognized the advantages of a canal across the Central American isthmus. Eventually two routes came to be considered, one through Panama and the other through Nicaragua. Impetus for selecting the route through Panama increased with the construction (by the United States) of the Panama Railroad in the mid-19th century. The eventual route of the canal closely followed that of the railroad. Panama railroad terminus at Culebra, 1854. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Lessep’s failed attempt The first attempt to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama began in 1881 after the Colombian government granted a concession to the privately owned Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique. The company, under the leadership of Ferdinand de Lesseps , was financed by French capital from countless small investors. Because of Lesseps’s recent triumph building the Suez Canal , he was able to attract public support for building a sea-level canal across Panama. That proposal was protested strongly by Adolphe Godin de Lépinay, baron de Brusly, an engineer who had studied the isthmus. Lépinay knew the surface features at Panama: the Continental Divide 9 miles (15 km) from the Pacific, the torrential Chagres River flowing into the Atlantic, and the smaller Río Grande flowing into the Pacific—both rivers suitable for creating artificial lakes.

In 1879 he proposed a “practical” plan for building a canal, calling for a dam at Gatún and another at Miraflores (or as close to the seas as the land would permit), letting the waters rise to form two lakes about 80 feet (25 metres) high, joining the lakes by cutting across the Continental Divide, and connecting them to the oceans through locks. Lépinay’s conception eventually established him as an architectural and engineering genius and as the originator of the plan from which the Panama Canal was built. Unfortunately for the French, however, his idea was ignored at the time, and the Compagnie Universelle embarked on its ill-fated undertaking. Lesseps was unfamiliar with conditions in Panama or was unwilling to acknowledge that they were vastly different from Suez. Unlike the arid desert of the Isthmus of Suez, Panama was a tropical jungle, with diluvial rains, debilitating heat and humidity, and tropical diseases. Topographic conditions along the proposed route varied considerably and ranged from coastal marshes to the mountains of the Continental Divide. Despite competent engineering, there was no sound overall plan.

Machinery used to dig the canal was either too light or ill-suited for the tough inland terrain, and disease took a terrible toll in workers’ lives. Progress was costly and extremely slow. As a cost-saving measure, the plans for a sea-level canal were eventually dropped in favour of a high-level lock-type canal, but that change had little effect. With no foreseeable return on its investment, the French public lost faith in the project and its leader. Attempts at further financing failed, and the company collapsed in 1889. Although the company reorganized in 1894, it virtually ceased to function by 1898. Any possibility of completing the canal across Panama was gone; its sole hope lay in holding together an enterprise that could be offered for sale. In the end, less than half of the excavation made by the French was used in the U.S. canal. American intervention Hope became reality with the passage of the Spooner Act of 1902 by the U.S. Congress, which authorized purchasing the assets of the French company and building a canal, provided that a satisfactory treaty could be negotiated with Colombia (of which Panama was then an integral part).

When treaty negotiations with Colombia broke down, Panama, with the implicit backing of the United States, declared its independence and was recognized by the United States in November 1903. The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was then negotiated between Panama and the United States. The treaty satisfied the Spooner Act and created the Panama Canal Zone ; it was proclaimed in February 1904. Map of central Panama (c. 1900), from the 10th edition of Encyclopædia … Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. From the first Senate resolution in 1835 favouring Nicaragua until the dramatic change of location for the canal in the Spooner Act, the American public and government had consistently and overwhelmingly supported a canal through Nicaragua. That the canal was built in Panama is primarily attributable not to the intrinsic merits of the Panama route but to the ingenuity and zeal of two remarkable men who worked separately toward a common goal: the French engineer Phillipe-Jean Bunau-Varilla and the American lawyer William Nelson Cromwell. The political power that turned the U.S. government in favour of Panama was supplied by two people: Pres. Theodore Roosevelt and Sen. Mark Hanna .

Roosevelt, once committed, supported the project so enthusiastically that he is almost universally thought of as the “father” of the canal. Most of the actual work on the canal was done during the administration of William Howard Taft (1909–13), who had also been involved earlier in Roosevelt’s administration. By the summer of 1904, work under American administration was under way all along the canal route. The French had abandoned the sea-level approach in favour of a high-level canal with locks, and indeed that was desirable as it would cost less and would eliminate potential problems arising from differences in sea levels at either end of the waterway. Yet engineers still disagreed on the type of canal that should be built, and they faced another problem of equal importance: how to manage the Chagres River , which rose in the northeast highland region of Panama and emptied into the Atlantic. From Gamboa to Gatún the route of the proposed canal tended to follow the path of the river as it made its way to the sea. Fed by runoff created by the area’s frequent tropical downpours, the river was subject to tremendous and rapid variations in its rate of flow.

Left unchecked, its menacing flood could easily inundate a waterway built near its path. Since its opening in 1914, the Panama Canal has linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. In 1906 Roosevelt resolved the matter when he sided with Chief Engineer John Frank Stevens , who argued for a lock-type canal. The plan ultimately approved by Congress was similar in all essential respects to the one proposed by Lépinay but rejected by Lesseps. Included in the proposal was an enormous earthen dam across the Chagres River at Gatún. The dam created what was then the largest artificial lake in the world (Gatún Lake), and at the same time, it brought a considerable part of the Chagres River under control. So massive was the lake that it was able to accommodate the greater part of the river even at flood stage. Perhaps more important, the man-made lake formed more than 20 miles (32 km) of the canal route. Men working on the locks of the Panama Canal. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Human costs and completion Where tropical fevers— yellow fever and malaria in particular—had decimated the ranks of French workers with an estimated loss of over 20,000 lives, those in charge of the American effort were determined to prevent the same thing from happening again. American medical staff understood how the diseases were transmitted and how they could be controlled, and by 1906 the Canal Zone had become safer for work to resume in earnest. Even with such precautions, accidents and disease claimed the lives of 5,609 workers during the American effort. At times more than 40,000 people were employed on the project, mostly labourers from the West Indian islands of Barbados, Martinique, and Guadeloupe, though many engineers, administrators, and skilled tradesmen were from the United States. Dredges working on the Culebra Cut (later known as the Gaillard Cut) during construction of the … Panama Canal Authority Railroads and heavy machinery were critical elements.

Most notable was the use of more than 100 steam shovels, many of which were used to dig the Culebra Cut, later called Gaillard Cut after David du Bose Gaillard, the American engineer who supervised its construction until his death in 1913. The unstable nature of the soil and rock in the area of the cut made it one of the most difficult and challenging sections of the entire canal project, however, and numerous lives were lost in landslides and dynamite accidents during that phase of the project. Indeed, hillsides were subject to unpredictable earth slides and mudslides, and at times the floor of the excavation was known to rise precipitously simply owing to the weight of the hillsides. The well-known Cucaracha slide of 1907 continued for years and poured millions of cubic yards into the canal excavation.

Workers, often labouring in temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C) or higher, used rock drills, dynamite, and steam shovels to remove as much as 96 million cubic yards (73 million cubic metres) of earth and rock as they lowered the floor of the excavation to within 40 feet (12 metres) of sea level. Workers on the Panama Canal dug by hand through the 1907 Cucaracha landslide in Gaillard (Culebra) … Corbis Despite all of those challenges, the canal was opened to traffic on August 15, 1914, more than three decades after the first attempt to build the canal had begun. It remains the greatest engineering feat yet attempted. Two men standing on railroad tracks in front of canal locks under construction in 1913 as part of … Corbis Treaties governing the canal’s international status The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was an irritant to Panamanian sensibilities from the moment it was signed, in 1903.

It had been written and negotiated for the infant republic by Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla , a French citizen who had not been in Panama for 18 years and who later openly admitted that he was willing for Panama to pay any price to ensure acceptance of the treaty by the U.S. Senate. The most-onerous part of the treaty, in the Panamanian view, was the right granted to the United States to act in the entire 10-mile- (16-km-) wide ocean-to-ocean Canal Zone as “if it were the sovereign.” Thus, the Canal Zone became in effect a foreign colony that bisected Panama, despite Theodore Roosevelt ’s declaration in 1906 that no such result was intended. As eventually constituted by the middle of the century, the Canal Zone was administered by an American governor appointed by the U.S. president. Judicial matters were settled before magistrates appointed by the governor or by a circuit court judge appointed by the president. The governor was ex officio a director and president of the Panama Canal Company, an American corporate body whose directors were charged with operating and maintaining the canal in a businesslike manner.

In order to guarantee operation of the canal in the event of war, U.S. military units were stationed in the Canal Zone. Some of the harsher effects of the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty were ameliorated by subsequent treaties, principally those of 1936 and 1955. The United States relinquished its claimed right to acquire additional lands and waters adjacent to the canal, granted Panamanian control over the ports at Colón and Panama City, and brought the wages of Panamanians employed in the Canal Zone closer to the level of Americans. But the Panamanians continued to press for more-drastic changes, including eventual full sovereignty over the canal. After years of negotiation, agreement was reached between the two governments in 1977. The Panama Canal Treaty was signed on September 7 of that year by Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera of Panama and Pres. Jimmy Carter of the United States. It terminated all prior treaties between the United States and Panama concerning the canal and abolished the Canal Zone.

The treaty recognized Panama as territorial sovereign in the former Canal Zone, but it gave the United States the right to continue managing, operating, and maintaining the canal and to use lands and waters necessary for those purposes during a transition period of 20 years covered by the agreement. The treaty also provided for joint study of the feasibility of a sea-level canal and gave the United States the right to add a third lane of locks to the existing canal, though those were never built by the United States. The treaty went into effect on October 1, 1979, and expired on December 31, 1999. The 1977 treaty was supplemented by a separate, but interrelated, Neutrality Treaty that also went into effect in 1979 but has no termination date. Under the Neutrality Treaty the United States and Panama guarantee the permanent neutrality of the canal, with nondiscriminatory tolls and access for all nations; U.S. and Panamanian warships, however, are entitled to expeditious passage. No nation other than Panama may operate the canal or maintain military installations within Panamanian territory.

The United States, however, reserved the right to use military force, if necessary, to keep the canal open; that was, in part, the rationale behind the U.S. military intervention in Panama in 1989–90, which, nonetheless, did not prevent the canal from being closed down for about a day in December 1989. The U.S. Senate ratified the two treaties in 1978, after one of the lengthiest treaty debates in American history. The treaties were then implemented into U.S. domestic law by the Panama Canal Act of 1979. That act, among other things, established the Panama Canal Commission, which replaced both the Panama Canal Company and the Canal Zone government. The commission was controlled by a board consisting of five American and four Panamanian members. Until 1990 the administrator was an American and the assistant administrator a Panamanian national; after 1990 the roles were reversed, and Panamanians assumed the leadership position.

The function of the commission was somewhat different from its predecessor, as activities not directly related to the canal, such as maintenance and operation of terminals and the Panama Canal Railway, were transferred to Panama in preparation for the final turnover. With the turnover of the canal in December 1999, the ACP assumed complete responsibility for the canal. The international status of the canal also is affected by two older treaties. In the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901, the United Kingdom gave up its interest in an isthmian canal. And, while the United States was free to take any measures in order to protect a canal, it agreed that there would be “entire equality” in the treatment of ships of all nations with respect to “conditions and charges of traffic.” In the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty of 1914, the government-owned vessels of Colombia were exempted from paying tolls in exchange for Colombian recognition of the autonomy of Panama. Capital improvements The first major capital improvement on the canal was the construction of the Madden Dam and Power Project, which was completed in 1935.

That not only stemmed and controlled the flow of water moving into Gatún Lake to a rate of some 200 billion cubic feet (6 billion cubic metres) per year but also created a large reservoir , Lake Madden (now Alajuela Lake). It also increased the production of electric power in the region. The Boyd-Roosevelt Highway was then built across the isthmus, thereby adding a third means of transportation to the waterway and the railroad. In 1955 the Thatcher Ferry Bridge (now called the Bridge of the Americas) was built, which connected Panama City and Balboa to the west side of the canal. From 1957 to 1971 Gaillard Cut (also called the Culebra Cut) was widened from its original 300 feet (90 metres) to 492 feet (150 metres).

In 1991, within two years of the final transition of power, the ACP began its first expansion program, a $219 million project to widen the nearly 8.5-mile- (14-km-) long Gaillard Cut from 500 feet (152 metres) to a maximum of 728 feet (222 metres). Completed in 2001, that ambitious development allowed the two-way passage of so-called Panamax ships (the then largest ships allowable in the canal) and decreased the average canal travel time by about 6 hours to about 10 hours total. The ACP also invested $54 million in new lock locomotives, new tracks and tugboats, conversion of mitre gate locks to hydraulics, and a $30 million GPS vessel tracking system. Despite such improvements, many supertankers and large naval vessels were still too large to pass through the canal. There was much study of the feasibility of either widening the existing canal and locks or building a larger sea-level canal at another location.

Cost and environmental concerns eliminated the latter option, and in 2006 the Panamanian government and voters backed the Third Set of Locks Project, a $5.2 billion expansion program to increase the width of Gatún Lake’s navigational channels to 920 feet (280 metres) in the straight sections and 1,200 feet (366 metres) at the turning points to facilitate cross-navigation. The project, completed in June 2016, raised Gatún Lake’s maximum operating level to 89 feet (27 metres), with the goal of increasing Gatún Lake’s usable water reserves by a daily average of 165 million gallons (625 million litres). Furthermore, the project included four phases of dry excavation that created a new 3.8-mile- (6.1-km-) long access channel connecting the new Pacific locks with the Gaillard Cut and also widened and deepened the existing navigational channels and deepened the cut.

Freshwater dredging totaled more 37.9 million cubic yards (29 million cubic metres) of earth taken from the lake, 11.4 million cubic yards (8.7 million cubic metres) as part of the Pacific access channel, and 23.5 million cubic yards (18 million cubic metres) from the Atlantic entrance. Each sea-entrance navigation channel was widened to 738 feet (225 metres) and deepened to at least 18 feet (15.5 metres) below the lowest tide levels. The project doubled the canal’s capacity by adding two new steps of three-step locks, one at either end of the canal, and to allow the passage of a new generation of supersized ships, dubbed “neo-Panamax,” that can carry 13,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units; 1 TEU is the capacity of a container 20 by 8 by 9 feet [6.1 by 2.4 by 2.7 metres]).

After approval of the Third Set of Locks Project, ACP began awarding major contracts to firms from around the world, including an environmental-impact study conducted by the American firm URS and two Panamanian universities in 2007. To address concerns about the project’s effect on wildlife, the builders conducted extensive monitoring, both in person and with cameras, to determine what types of traps and how many traps would be required to capture and relocate animals to safe locations during construction. On September 3, 2007, Panamanians celebrated groundbreaking on the first dry excavation project on the Pacific side. By December ACP had qualified four global consortia to bid on the main component of the program—the construction of the third pair of locks. In July 2009 ACP selected Grupo Unidos por el Canal—led by the Spanish firm Sacyr and including companies from Italy, Panama, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States—to design and build the new locks, which the group proposed to do at a cost of $3.12 billion. The final cost of the expansion totaled over $5.25 billion.

The first explosions during the ceremony marking the beginning of the expansion of the Panama Canal … Susana Gonzales—AFP/Getty Images The canal expansion required a significant concrete-procuring effort. Two concrete plants operated 24 hours a day, six days a week, and were supported by a system of trucks, barges, conveyor belts, stockpiles, crushers, and coolers. At the height of construction, 8,000 tons of aggregate a day were transported from the Pacific side to the Atlantic side by barge and then carried by as many as 60 trucks to the site. Aggregates varying from coarse rock to fine sand were added to various types of concrete mixes and applied to different sections of the locks. An on-site quarry operation produced basalt for the concrete mixes, though some material was reused from existing excavation if it was of sufficiently high quality. In 2012 ACP announced an eight-month delay due to the extensive challenges associated with procuring concrete with a 100-year design life, a weeklong strike by one of Panama’s biggest construction labour unions, and bad weather.

With the anticipated completion of Third Set of Locks Project pushed back to 2016, the expansion was still under way during the canal’s centennial in 2014. Effects of expansion The construction of the third set of locks inspired numerous articles, reports, and studies speculating on how the passage of post-Panamax ships through the canal would have an impact on global shipping patterns. In the United States, many East Coast ports began ramping up expansion and modernization plans in anticipation of increasing amounts of those large ships, which generally require channels with depths of more than 50 feet (15 metres) if fully loaded. However, the global recession in 2008 brought a long-term pattern of yearly U.S. import growth to a halt, implying increased trade uncertainty and much slower growth rates. Despite uncertainties in future shipping patterns, the Third Set of Locks Project brought global attention from the engineering industry to Panama and the ACP. Unlike the original construction of the canal, the Panamanians hold proprietorship over the expansion, and the ACP has signed multiple partnership agreements with port authorities and other entities throughout the Americas and the world.

In 2012 the ACP hosted an inaugural Engineering and Infrastructure Congress, which drew hundreds of geotechnical, electrical, structural and civil engineering practitioners, as well as exhibitors and vendors, and featured multiple sessions to address the ongoing issues associated with the canal expansion. Panama Canal - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) A great water tollway often called the "Big Ditch," the Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It weaves across a strip of tropical land where the Isthmus of Panama narrows in the shape of a long flattened letter S. The fame of the Panama Canal is not in its size, for it is only about 51 miles (82 kilometers) long. Rather, the canal is an engineering triumph over nature. It has also been a major influence on world trade. The canal is owned and administered by the country of Panama. Article Contributors map Among the great peaceful endeavors of mankind that have contributed significantlyto progress in the world, the construction of the Canal stands as an awe-inspiring achievement. The unparalled engineering triumph was made possible by an international work force under the leadership of American visionaries, that made the centuries-old dream of uniting the two great oceans a reality.

In 1534, Charles I of Spain ordered the first survey of a proposed canal route through the Isthmus of Panama. More than three centuries passed before the first construction was started. The French labored 20 years, beginning in 1880, but disease and financial problems defeated them. In 1903, Panama and the United States signed a treaty by which the United States undertook to construct an interoceanic ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The following year, the United States purchased from the French Canal Company its rights and properties for $40 million and began construction. The monumental project was completed in ten years at a cost of about $387 million. Since 1903 the United States has invested about $3 billion in the Canal enterprise, approximately two-thirds of which has been recovered. The building of the Panama Canal involved three main problems-engineering, sanitation and organization. Its successful completion was due principally to the engineering and administrative skills of such men as John F. Stevens and Col. George W. Goethals, and to the solution of extensive health problems by Col. William C. Gorgas.

The engineering problems involved digging through the Continental Divide; constructing the largest earth dam ever built up to that time; designing and building the most massive canal locks ever envisioned; constructing the largest gates ever swung; and solving environmental problems of enormous proportions. Now more than 75 years after the first official ocean-to-ocean transit of the waterway, the United States and Panama have embarked on a partnership for the management, operation and defense of the Panama Canal. The Vital Link for World Trade The Panama Canal, with its uinque location at the narrowest point between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, has had a rar-reaching effect on world economic and comercial developments throughout most of the 20the century. By providing a shorter, relatively inexpensive passageway between these two great bodies of water, the Canal has influenced world trade patterns, spurred growth in developed countries, and has been a primary impetus for economic expansion in many remote areas of the world.

For example, a vessel laden with coal saling from the east coast of the United States to Japan via the Panama Canal saves about 3,000 miles versus the shortest alternative all-water route, and for a vessel laden with bananas sailing from Ecuador to Europe the distance saved is about 5,000 miles. By far, most of the traffic through the Canal moves between the east coast of the United States and the Far East, while movements between Europe and the west coast of the United States and Canada comprise the second major trade route at the waterway. Other regions and countries, however such as the neighboring countries of Central and South America, are proportionately more dependent on this vital artery to promote their economic development and expand trade. Since the Canal first opened on August 15, 1914, the waterway has provided a quality transit service to more than700,000 vessels. Despite the increase in the number and size of transiting vessels in recent years, the total time spent by a vessel at the Panama Canal still remains at slightly less than 24 hours.

This remarkable level of performance can be attributed to the team of professionals trained to provide rapid transit service and to the rimely implementaion of improvements designed to interface with traffic demand. Some $10 million dollars is spent each year on training rograms to prepare Panamanians for the operation and maintenance of the Canal. Today, Panamanians comprise more than 8 persent of the Canal's seasoned work force, and occupy positionss in high-skilled areas vital to the Canal organization. Of the thousands of vessels transiting the Canal each year, about 23 percent of the total ocean-going transits are by PANAMAX-size vessels, the largest vessels the waterway can accommodate. An optional transit reservation system is available upon request to provide a guaranteed priority transit, The natue of improvements to the Canal keenly reeflect the ever increasing role of PANAMAMAX vessels in the movement of world commerce. Use of the all-water routes through the Panama Canal, will continue to be an important, cost-effective transportaion mode for a significant segment of world trade. Maintenance As with any operation of the magnitude and complexity of the Panama Canal, round-the-clock maintenance is critical to its effectiveness and efficiency.

Approximately $450 million is spent each year for the overall operation of the Panama Canal, of which nearly $100 million is committed to maintaining and improving the waterway. Regular dredging of the main channel virtually assures a year-round maximum draft of 39.5 feet even during dry periods. Because the Panama Canal Commission recognizes and emphasizes the requirement for good maintenance, regular overhauls of miter gates, chambers, culverts and valves are scheduled to keep the Locks in top operating conditon. The Physical Features of the Panama Canal The Panama Canal is 50 miles long from deep water in the Atlantic to deep water in the Pacific. It was cut through one of the narrowest and lowest saddles from the long, mountainous Isthmus that joins the North and South Amercan continents. The orignal elevation was 312 feet above sea level where it crosses the Continental Divide in the rugged mountian range. The canal runs from northwest to southeast with the Atlantic entrance being 33.5 miles north and 27 miles west of the Pacific entrance. Air distance between the two entrances is 43 miles. It requires about 9 hours for an average ship to transit the canal.

During this brief time, the passengers aboard have an opportunity to see one of the modern wonder of the world in operation, its principal physical features are the two terminal ports, short sections of the channel at either end at the sea level, and the three sets of twin locks, Gatun Lake, and Gaillard Cut. A ship that transits the Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific enters the channel form Limon Bay at the Cristobal breakwater. This sea-level section of the Canal channel on the Atlantic side is 6 and a half miles long and 500 feet wide and runs through a mangrove swamp that is only a few feet above sea level in most places. A ship is raised or lowered 85 feet in a continuous flight of three steps at Gatun Locks. Each lock chamber is 110 feet wide and 1,000 feet long. The length of Gatun Locks, including approach walls, is one and a half miles.

Gatun Lake and Dam Gatun Lake, through which the ships travel for 23 and a half miles from Gatun Locks to the north end of Gaillard Cut, covers an area of 163.38 square miles and was formed bya earthen dam across the Chagres River adjacent to Gatun Locks. The two wings of the dam and the spillway have an aggregate length of about one and a half miles. The dam is nearly a half mile wide at the base, sloping to a width of 100 feet at the crest, which is 105 feet above sea level, or 20 feet above the normal level fo Gatun Lake. GailIard Cut Because of its history, its unusual geology and the fact that it slices through the Continental Divide, Gaillard Cut holds special interest for ship passengers transiting the Canal. During the Canal construction period it was called Culebra Cut, but was renamed for Col. David DuBose Gaillard, the engineer who was in charge of this section of the Canal work. This portion of the channel is about eight miles long and was carved through rock and shale for most of the distance.

It was here that the principal excavation was required and here that the devastating slides occurred during construction and soon afer trhe Canal was opened.The ships enter the Cut where the Chagres River flows into the Canal channel at Gamboa. More than any other section of the Canal, Gaillard Cut gives the impression of the waterway as an enormous ditch. A short distance before the ship reaches Pedro Miguel Locks it passes Gold Hill on the left, the highest promontory along the channel. It rises 587 feet above sea level. Contractor's Hill, seen on the west bank opposite Gold Hill, originally had an altitude of 410 feet, this was reduced to 370 feet to stabalize the hill in 1954. The channel in Gaillard Cut was originallyexcavated to a width of 300 feet. During the 1930's and 1940's, the straight section imediately north of Gold Hill was widened to 500 feet to provide a passing secton for large ships, and during the period 1957 - 1971, the remaining portions of the Cut were also widened to 500 feet.

The Pacific-bound ship enters Pedro Miguel Locks at the south end of Gaillard Cut. Here is is lowered 31 feet in one step to Miraflores Lake, a small artifial body of water a mile wide that separates the two sets of Pacific locks. The length of Pedro Miguel Locks if 5/6 of a mile. The transiting ship is lowered the remaining two steps to sea level at Miraflores Locks, which are slightly over a mile in length. The lock gates at Miraflores are the talest of any in the system because fo the extreme tidal variation in the Pacific Ocean. The Panama Canal is the 8th Man made wonder of the world and the focus of many of our travelers on our tour packages. The route taken on our full Panama Canal transits, which are offered usually only once per month with the exception of Jan - March when two full transits are ofered.

You can check our schedule for exact dates.full transits begin at the southeastern (or Pacific) entrance of the Panama Canal in Balboa and travels the entire length of the canal and ends in Christobal on the northwestern (Atlantic Coast) where we off-load from our vessel and transfer back to Panama City by bus. Partial Panama Canal transits are offered each Saturday and Thursdays and Fridays January - March. We offer both north and southbound partial transits between Gamboa and Flamenco Island. The Panama Canal New spillway at Panama Canal - International Water Power New spillway at Panama Canal 18 January 2013 The new Gatun spillway will provide flood protection and regulation to prepare the Panama Canal infrastructure for extreme events. MWH Global has been working to help maximise the effectiveness of the spillway and ensure the integrity and viability of this important ship canal. One of the largest and most challenging engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal is an 80km ship canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and creates a passage which represents 5% of international trade.

The first attempts to build it date back to 1881 but was not actually completed until the effort undertaken by the US between 1904-14. Construction of the canal no longer made it necessary for ships to sail the lengthy route around the southernmost tip of South America and today, some 14,000 ships annually pass through this Central American shortcut. Work is now underway to expand the canal, including a new set of locks that will allow much larger ships to pass through the waterway. The Panama Canal works via a system of locks with entrance and exit gates. It relies on Gatun Lake, a manmade fresh water lake that was created by the construction of the Gatun dam across the Chagres River to make it navigable by large vessels and serves as a reservoir to operate the canal locks. Gatun Lake, which presently has a maximum operating level of 26.67masl and spans 436km2, is part of the canal's shipping channel, serves to generate hydropower, and is a water source for communities established adjacent to the waterway both in Panama City and Colon. Its dam and spillway structures also provide critical flood protection for the canal and surrounding region.

In particular, the Gatun spillway is the primary hydraulic outlet from Gatun Lake to the Chagres River. Its purpose is to control the lake level, meet the water supply and navigation demands and to protect Gatun dam, the Gatun and Pedro Miguel Locks and other facilities around the lake shoreline from flooding. The spillway was designed a century ago at a time when little information was available detailing the hydrology and hydraulics of the Chagres River. Based on this limited information, the spillway was designed, constructed and placed into operation in 1913 with a capacity calculated from historical flood elevations along the river and a maximum operational lake level of 25.91m. As demands for water increased, along with the number of vessels transiting the Panama Canal, the maximum operating level was raised to 26.67m. Rationale for spillway modifications Engineering firm MWH Global is the lead technical designer for the concurrent expansion of Panama Canal through a third set of locks, which will require a planned increase in maximum operating level of Gatun Lake. Due to this increase, there will be less storage available during floods, leading to increased peak discharge from the spillway during seasonal rainfall events.

This has placed greater importance on the need for a new spillway. After almost 100 years of operation a significant amount of hydrologic data has been collected for both the Chagres River and the climatology of the region. This compilation of data, when combined with the advancements in hydrologic design criteria and standards for dams and spillways, has led to a consensus that the current spillway capacity has to be upgraded to safely handle the probable maximum flood (PMF). International standards classify the Gatun dam as a large dam with a high hazard, and as such, the spillway must be re-designed to meet its associated PMF levels. The need for a new spillway was identified very soon after the opening of the Panama Canal. This resulted in the development of several hydrologic studies on the Panama Canal Watershed and even a new spillway design as early as 1945. While new studies and designs were later developed, on 8 December 2010 the Panama Canal experienced the largest storm in its history, which forced the use of the lock culverts to control unprecedented Gatun Lake flood levels.

This further accentuated the need for a new spillway, and led the Panama Canal Authority to decide on the award of a contract for a detailed design of a new spillway for Gatun Lake. Solutions and processes To help increase the outflow capacity of the existing spillway system and ensure that it can handle the PMF, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) awarded a US$4.4M contract to MWH Global in January 2012 to provide preliminary and final design services for a new spillway. In short, MWH engineers are addressing the varying water levels and spillage needs of Gatun Lake, alongside all the protection works related to the extreme spilling conditions. MWH evaluated the existing Gatun spillway which consists of a curvilinear concrete dam measuring 225m along the top, with a crest at 5.7m below the present normal lake level. The spillway was designed so that water converged at the bottom of the dam from opposite directions, hitting baffle blocks to dissipate energy and exiting through a concrete discharge channel.

The spillway dam is controlled by 14 Stoney gates supported by concrete piers, and has a capacity of 5155m3/sec at the current maximum operational lake level. As part of the contract, MWH has been tasked with identifying at least three plausible flood management solutions and developing corresponding conceptual designs, each including a new spillway and cost analysis. The preliminary design phase was to determine the best way to increase outflow including adding new spillway structures and has entailed: - Research and analysis: MWH conducted a review and analysis of available background information from ACP, including data and reports conducted throughout the history of the Gatun spillway. - Site investigation and field works: A site investigation campaign was developed, including the location and number of new boring sets and seismic lines based on proposed structure location and alignment. Field works were also developed and new information was reviewed in combination with new information to determine design parameters for structural foundations. These included: A Lidar survey and a bathymetric survey were proposed and executed. A digital terrain model based on information from ACP and the new one.

A conceptual three-dimensional model of local geology of Gatun Hill and nearby surroundings where the new spillway structures would be located to estimate overburden, weathered rock and sound rock layers. - Modelling: A number of mathematical models and simulations were developed to test the design before fully implemented. Utilising data: Data from the various studies and models as listed above. Several alternatives were developed, evaluated and proposed, including the arrangement of the spilling structures, dissipation units, approach channels, and feasible flood management solutions. However, prior to submitting the proposals to the ACP, MWH conducted complete modelling to ensure the feasibility of each solution. The testing included: A flood routing model for different crest elevations of the new spilling structures, in order to evaluate the required width. A one-dimensional model of the Chagres River, which was calibrated using historic flood data to determine tail water levels downstream of Gatun dam. The model enabled the design of several alternatives of protection works. Testing of spilling structure arrangements with a one-dimensional model and a comparison of excavation and concrete volume for each one of the variants (crest elevation and width).

A two-dimensional vertical model of the new spillway structures and a three-dimensional model of the approach channel modeled with OpenFOAM software. Three-dimensional CFD model of the new spillway structures to verify the hydraulic performance of the stilling basins and energy dissipation units. A three-dimensional CFD model of the existing Gatun Spillway developed to determine the rating curve. The model enabled evaluation of the performance of possible improvements to protect the spillway and the Gatun hydropower generation plant from the larger discharges resulting from the higher maximum operational lake level. Creation of a two-dimensional model of the Chagres River from the Gatun Spillway to the first downstream river bend. Design adjustments made based on recent geological data and Peer Review Board recommendations. - Physical modelling: In addition, a 1:40 scale model of the existing Gatun spillway was constructed at the Hydraulic Laboratory of the National Institute of Water (INA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It reproduces a section of the dam, the existing spillway, the dissipation area with baffle blocks, the discharge channel and a short stretch of the river downstream.

It was applied to verify the rating curves, and to evaluate the performance of the spillway in several scenarios, including higher tail water levels corresponding to prospective future operational situations. - Structural and mechanical analysis: For the three design alternatives, structural stability analysis was performed on the new spilling structures using finite element and rigid body analysis. Seismic design guidelines were also considered. Dimensions of the structures have been set, along with the design of mechanical equipment including tainter gates, actuating mechanisms, an emergency closure device and maintenance stoplogs. - Environmental assessment: A preliminary environmental feasibility assessment to meet regulations in Panama was also prepared for every alternative. MWH has presented several preliminary design alternatives, along with cost analysis, to the Panama Canal Authority for their review. ACP has recently selected the conceptual design alternative, and MWH will finalise the design and develop bid documents and drawings for construction. The design capacity of the new spillway structure is close to 7000m3/sec at the highest lake flood level. The project is slated for completion in 2013. New spillway The new Gatun spillway will provide flood protection and regulation of Gatun Lake to prepare the Panama Canal infrastructure for extreme events.

Maximising the effectiveness of the spillway will also ensure the integrity and viability of the Panama Canal, not only for the existing locks but for the third set of locks that will be designed with water saving basins - saving 60% of the fresh water which would otherwise be used in the locks. These advancements come at a time when Panama, much like other countries worldwide, is eager to conserve its water resources while increasing the amount of economic trade and transportation that can pass through its waterways. Fernando Re is a civil engineer for MWH Global based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Post to: Panama Canal, Panama Panama Canal Cruise Port Spend an unforgettable day cruising the Panama Canal, a fifty-one mile waterway through the rainforest that is one of the world's engineering masterpieces. The ship glides down the canal with inches to spare, through locks that raise and lower it like a toy. Along the way it crosses enormous Gatun Lake, and the amazing Gaillard Cut, blasted out of a solid mountainside. Description The Panama Canal is 80 kilometers (50 miles) long from deep water in the Atlantic to deep water in the Pacific.

It was cut through one of the narrowest and lowest saddles of the long, mountainous Isthmus that joins the North and South American continents. The original elevation was 95 meters (312 feet) above sea level where it crosses the Continental Divide in the rugged mountain range. The Canal runs from northwest to southeast with the Atlantic entrance being 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) north and 43.5 kilometers (27 miles) west of the Pacific entrance. The air distance between the two entrances is 69 kilometers (43 miles). It requires about 8 to 10 hours for an average ship to transit the Canal. During this brief time, the passengers aboard have an opportunity to see one of the modern wonders of the world in operation.

The Canal's principal physical features are Gatun Lake a central man-made lake stretching nearly all the way across the Isthmus; Gaillard Cut, the 13 kilometers-long (8 1/2 miles) excavation through the Continental Divide that extends Gatun Lake to Pedro Miguel Locks; the locks on both sides of the Isthmus that raise ships between sea level and the lake (Gatun Locks on the Atlantic and Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks on the Pacific); and the ports of Balboa on the Pacific and Cristobal on the Atlantic. At the time the Canal was built, Gatun Dam was the largest earth dam that had ever been constructed, and Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world. The three sets of locks were the most massive concrete structures ever built. A ship that transits the Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific enters the channel from Limon Bay at the Cristobal breakwater.

This sea-level section of the Canal channel on the Atlantic side is 10.5 kilometers (6-1/2 miles) long and 152.4 meters (500 feet) wide and runs through a mangrove swamp that is only a few feet above sea level in most places. A ship is raised or lowered 26 meters (85 feet) in a continuous flight of three steps at Gatun Locks. Each lock chamber is 33.5 meters (110 feet) wide and 306 meters (1,000 feet) long. The length of Gatun Locks, including the two approach walls, is 1.9 kilometers (1-1/5 miles). Gatun Lake and Dam Gatun Lake, through which the ships travel for 37.6 kilometers (23-1/2 miles) from Gatun Locks to the north end of Gaillard Cut, covers an area of 418.25 square kilometers (163.38 square miles) and was formed by the construction of Gatun Dam across the Chagres River adjacent to Gatun Locks.

The two wings of the dam and the spillway have an aggregate length of about 2.4 kilometers (1-1/2 miles). The dam is nearly a half mile wide at the base, tapering to a width of 30.5 meters (100 feet) at the crest, which is 32 meters (105 feet) above sea level, or 6.1 meters (20 feet) above the normal level of Gatun Lake. Gaillard Cut Because of its historical background, perhaps no part of the Canal trip is more interesting to the ship passenger than Gaillard Cut. During the Canal construction period it was called Culebra Cut, but was renamed for Col. David DuBose Gaillard, the engineer who was in charge of this section of the Canal work. The Gaillard Cut channel was originally a minimum 91.5 meters (300 feet) wide along its entire 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles) length. In the 1930's, Canal authorities began a Cut Widening Project to increase channel width to a minimum 152 meters (498 feet) in some of the more slide prone areas.

The objective was to have a catch-basin for slide debris in such areas. In the 1950's and 1960's the widening extended into other areas in order to improve navigation. By the early 1970's, the entire Gaillard Cut channel had a minimum width of 152 meters (498 feet). This permitted unrestricted two-way traffic for the vast majority of the ships using the Canal at the time. This portion of the channel is about 13.7 kilometers (8-1/2 miles) long and was carved through rock and shale for most of the distance. It was here that the principal excavation was required and here that devastating slides occurred during construction and soon after the Canal was opened. Coming from the Atlantic, a ship enters the Cut where the Chagres River flows into the Canal channel at Gamboa. In the Cut, the ships passes Gold Hill on the left, the highest promontory along the channel. It rises 202 meters (662 feet) above sea level.

Contractor's Hill, seen on the west bank opposite Gold Hill, originally had an altitude of 125 meters (410 feet), but this was reduced to 113 meters (370 feet) to stabilize the hill in 1954. Another long-term program to further widen and straighten Gaillard Cut, begun in January of 1992, is designed to improve vessel scheduling and safety and to increase Canal transit capacity. A Pacific-bound ship enters Pedro Miguel Locks at the south end of Gaillard Cut. Here it is lowered 9.4 meters (31 feet) in one step to Miraflores Lake, a small artificial body of water 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) wide that separates the two sets of Pacific locks. The length of Pedro Miguel Locks is 0.27 kilometers (5/6 of a mile). A transiting ship is lowered the remaining two steps to sea level at Miraflores Locks, which is slightly over 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) in length. The lock gates at Miraflores are the tallest of any in the system because of the extreme tidal variation in the Pacific Ocean. Source: Panama Canal Commision.

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.

Gatun Lake (Panama City): Top Tips Before You Go - TripAdvisor “The second largest man made lake in the world” Reviewed 1 week ago This is a man made lake covering over 164 sq miles of flooded woodlands (mahogany trees). It was created to fill the Panama Canal and it hosts some of Panama's rarest species of both animal, plant and marine life. It is famous for its boat and fishing tours with bass over 300 pounds in weight! The only downside is how... More Helpful? Panama Canal - Cereal Cereal Photos: Kate Holstein This vast earthwork was completed in 1907 and it took another six years for the valleys behind it to slowly sink beneath the waves, creating what was at the time the biggest manmade body of water on the planet. A flank of blue steel arms whirr as they load containers, bright as children’s building blocks, onto the great vessels churning the soupy waters of Bahía de Limón. Moving cargo from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama Canal is the work of thousands – though few backs and thighs are strained with heavy lifting any more.

Instead, workers drive forklifts and artics through the walled-in depots of Coco Solo and Colón Free Trade Zone, and along the service roads flanking the concrete headland of Nuevo Cristobál. The ships, sea water rusting spots in their painted skins, plough past them west, then south into a great inlet, migrating along invisible trenches dug from the sea floor. They advance through waterlogged hills, giant interlopers on the land, each kilometre of their journey paid for in prodigious loss of human life. The combined might of malaria, yellow fever, and neglect carried more than 25,000 to their graves, the vast majority during the first doomed attempt to dig across the isthmus by the French. From 1882, the goldrush boomtown of Gatún, 15 km inland and briefly renamed as Cité de Lesseps, was the epicentre of Ferdinand Marie Comte de Lesseps’ operation. By the end of the century, however, the half finished trenches had fallen silent and the reputation of the Grand Français, feted for his other canal in Suez, was in tatters.

Undone by wet earth, an outraged press, and the clamour of 800,000 ruined investors, he narrowly avoided imprisonment not for charges of manslaughter, but rather bribery and corruption. Theodore Roosevelt took up the cause of the unfinished canal in one of his first presidential speeches in 1901. “No single great work which remains to be undertaken on this continent,” he bristled, from behind monocle and moustaches, “is as of such consequence to the American people.” When the Colombian government failed to show sufficient enthusiasm for his plans for their isthmian province, Washington turned instead to the Panamanian independence movement. In November 1903, the gunboat Nashville sliced sleek and white into the bay at Colón in a pointed show of strength in support of its protege. In return, the nascent Panamanian state granted its powerful northern neighbour a wedge of rainforest 16 km wide and 80 km long ‘as though it were sovereign’ to complete where the French had failed, and thereafter administer their canal ‘in perpetuity’.

Even the purse of a superpower was strained by the costs, with a 10 million USD purchase price for the land, 250,000 USD in annual rent, almost as much again to quieten the outrage in Bogotá, and another 40 million USD for French assets on the ground. Despite presidential orders to “make dirt fly”, excavation progressed with agonising slowness. The Isthmian Canal Commission, meticulous in its duty to avoid a re-run of French catastrophes, held Chief Engineer Findlay hostage with an insistence on checks, double checks, and unanimous approval for every decision. Recruitment drives in Jamaica met with hostility, the memories of French abuses still fresh, and vast inequalities in the treatment of black and white workers unaddressed. After the first Bucyrus steam shovel sputtered into action, chomping at huge mouthfuls of earth, celebration quickly gave way to frustration when the rusting Panama Railroad proved incapable of carrying away the spoils. The threat of another failure to link two oceans loomed over the stubborn piles of dirt like storm clouds. Chief Medical Officer Gorgas had more success.

Convinced by the then outlandish notion that the ubiquitous swarms of mosquitoes were not only a nuisance but also carried malaria and yellow fever, he won Roosevelt’s approval to increase his mosquito brigades from 200 to 2,000 and fumigated Aëdes aegypti into oblivion. Wholesale deaths from yellow fever finally halted when Gorgas spent 90,000 USD on copper mosquito screening. It took a new chief engineer, John Stevens, to get the excavations moving again with workers’ welfare and fixing the railroad as his priorities. The plan to use brute force to plough across the isthmus at sea level wasn’t abandoned until late 1905. Instead, ships purpose built to a maximum of 289.56 m from stern to bow and 32.31 m across the beam now glide into the twin channels at Gatún locks, their flanks all but grazing the sides. Three chambers employ more than 300,000 m³ of water, taking more than three hours to raise the craft the necessary 26 m to the Gatún Dam.

This vast earthwork was completed in 1907 and it took another six years for the valleys behind it to slowly sink beneath the waves, creating what was at the time the biggest manmade body of water on the planet. Vessels trace a cautious path across an improbable blue surface over submerged peaks and forests, each ponderous change in direction leading them finally to Culebra Cut. This terraced valley, site of endless landslides, cuts its way through the highest terrain on the canal route and is named for the mountain that was blasted away with over 27,000 tonnes of dynamite to create it. Its end marks the beginning of the descent back to sea level, the blue horizon of the Pacific in sight beyond Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. The black and red hull of the SS Ancon, loaded with cement, made the first official passage to great fanfare on August 15, 1914, almost 45 years after the idea of the canal was first taken seriously. ‘In perpetuity’, meanwhile, expired on 31 December 1999, the handover of the canal ending decades of tension, increasing militarisation, and unrest.

With the passing years, as the number of vessels using the waterway had multiplied, the proportion of the world’s commercial fleet too large to pass through the locks also grew. In 2007, the Panamanian government busied itself with the largest excavations since works began almost a century before, and the newly broadened channels are all but complete. Each time a ship is disgorged into the final dogleg stretch of bay, the suburbs of Panama City spreading out to the east, it tells a story underscored by the sweat of tens of thousands of labourers, recruited from all over the Caribbean and as far afield as Spain and Italy. It is a story of power, money, soil, and steel.

Question: Which manmade waterway features the Gatun and Milafiores Locks?
Answer: PANAMA CANAL