The
Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá)
is a major ship canal that traverses the Isthmus of
Panama in Central America, connecting the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans. Construction of the canal was
one of the largest and most difficult engineering
projects ever undertaken. It has had an enormous impact
on shipping between the two oceans, obviating the
long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and
Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America.
A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via
the canal travels 9,500 km (6,000 miles), well under
half the distance of the previous 22,500 km (14,000
mi) route around Cape Horn. Although the concept of
a canal near Panama dates back to the early 16th century,
the first attempt to construct a canal began in 1880
under French leadership. After this attempt collapsed,
the project of building a canal was attempted and
completed by the United States in Panama in 1914,
when the canal opened. The building of the 77 km (48
mi) canal was plagued by problems, including disease
(particularly malaria and yellow fever) and landslides.
As many as 27,500 workers are estimated to have died
during construction of the canal.
Since opening,
the canal has been enormously successful, and
continues to be a key conduit for international
shipping. Each year more than 14,000 ships pass
through the canal, carrying more than 203 million
tons of cargo. By 2002 about 800,000 ships had
used the canal altogether.
The canal can accommodate vessels
from small private yachts up to fairly large
commercial ships. The maximum size of vessel
that can use the canal is known as Panamax;
an increasing number of modern ships exceed
this limit, and are known as post-Panamax vessels.
A typical passage through the canal by a cargo
ship takes around nine hours. 14,011 vessels
passed through in 2005, with a total capacity
of 278.8 million tons, making an average of
almost 40 vessels per day.
The
Panama Canal
Watch this Video
of How the Panama Canal Works
At
the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal,
about a hundred tourists watch as a gigantic
cruise ship is towed into position for its descent
to the Pacific Ocean. They are seated on an
open-air balcony that provides a bird's-eye
view of the action. Guides explain the working
of the locks over a microphone, as the tourists
excitedly snap photos and wave to passengers
on the cruise ship. The ship begins to descend
as water is drained from the lock in front to
the one below. In a surprisingly short time,
the water levels of the two locks are balanced
and the massive lock gates begin to swing open.
The tractors, or mules, that tow the ship draw
their chains taunt, creep for- ward, and the
cruise ship slides into the next lock, like
a gigantic actor stepping off the stage.
Watch
this videos of how the new Panama Canal will
work after its enlargement.
It
is a scene that is repeated over and over, as
14,000 ships traverse the Panama Canal each
year. Yet it is somehow always fascinating
to see the working of one of mankind's greatest
engineering feats: the Eighth Wonder
of the World, the Panama Canal. Tourists
will find excellent facilities in Panama for
observing and learning about the Canal. At the
Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side and the
Gatun Locks on the Atlantic, you can observe
the working of the Canal from well-placed balconies.
The Panama Interoceanic Canal Museum, in the
Casco Viejo of Panama City, details Panama's
history as a transoceanic route. In this excellent
museum are found memorabilia from colonial Spanish
times, such as muskets, sabers, cannonballs
and coins, an exhibit dedicated to the Gold
Rush and the building of the Panama Rail- road,
charts, maps, photos of the Canal excavation,
stock certificates from the bankrupted French
Canal Company and copies of the Hay-Bunau Varrilla
and Torrijos-Carter treaties. There is even
a photo of Richard Halliburton, an adventurer
who swam the canal in the 1920s and paid the
lowest toll ever: 36 cents, based on his weight
of 140 pounds.
Tourists
can also boat through a part of the Canal, on
Lake Gatun, which supplies most of
the water for the locks. The 163 square-mile
lake is the Canal's highest point, at 85 feet
above sea level. Green and red buoys mark the
route for ships traversing the lake under their
own power. From a public dock at the town of
Gamboa, site of the Canal's dredging division,
boats carry tourists on excursions to the Smithsonian
research station on the is- land of Barro Colorado,
or to fish for peacock bass which thrive in
the lake's warm waters. You can also take a
nighttime cruise on Lake Gatun to observe crocodiles.
Crocs up to 18 feet long live in the lake, so
be careful! Just beyond Gamboa is the famed
Pipeline Road, where ecstatic birders have set
world records year after year in the Audubon
Society's Christmas bird count.
Extreme Engineering:
Widening the Panama Canal #1
Extreme Engineering: Widening the
Panama Canal #2
There were fears that
efficiency and maintenance would suffer following
the U.S. withdrawal; however, this does not
appear to be the case, and the canal's efficiency
appears to be improving under Panamanian control.
Canal Waters Time (CWT), the average time it
takes a vessel to navigate the canal, including
waiting time, is a key measure of efficiency;
according to the ACP, CWT is decreasing. At
the same time, the rate of accidents is at a
record low.
Increasing volumes of imports
from Asia which previously landed in the U.S.
west coast ports are now traveling through the
canal to the east coast. The total number of
vessel transits in fiscal year 1999 was 14,336;
this fell to a low of 13,154 in 2003, due at
least in part to global economic factors, but
has risen to 14,194 in 2006 (the canal’s
fiscal year runs from October to September).
However, this has been coupled with a steady
rise in average ship size and in the numbers
of Panamax vessels transiting, so that the total
tonnage carried has risen steadily from 227.9
million PC/UMS tons in fiscal year 1999 to 296.0
million tons in 2006. Given the negative impact
of vessel size on the rate of transits (for
example, the inability of large vessels to cross
in the Gaillard Cut), this represents significant
overall growth in canal capacity, despite the
reduction in total transits. The canal set a
traffic record on March 13, 2006, when 1,070,023
PC/UMS tons transited the waterway. , beating
the previous record of 1,005,551 PC/UMS tons
set on March 16, 2004.
The
canal administration has invested nearly US$1
billion in widening and modernizing the canal,
with the aim of increasing capacity by 20%.
The canal authority cites a number of major
improvements, including the widening and straightening
of the Gaillard Cut to reduce restrictions on
crossing vessels, the deepening of the navigational
channel in Gatun Lake to reduce draft restrictions
and improve water supply, and the deepening
of the Atlantic and Pacific Entrances of the
Canal. This is supported by new vessels, such
as a new drill barge and suction dredger, and
an increase of the tugboat fleet by 20%. In
addition, improvements have been made to the
operating machinery of the canal, including
an increased and improved tug locomotive fleet,
the replacement of more than 16 kilometres of
locomotive track, and new lock machinery controls.
Improvements have been made to the traffic management
system to allow more efficient control over
ships in the canal.
Extreme Engineering:
Widening the Panama Canal #3
Extreme Engineering:
Widening the Panama Canal #4
Extreme Engineering:
Widening the Panama Canal #5
The withdrawal of the U.S. has allowed
Panama to sell excess electricity produced by the
canal's dams, which was previously prohibited by the
U.S. government. Only 25% of the hydroelectric power
produced in the canal system is required to run the
canal.
Panama Canal expansion project
The Third Set of Locks Project is a megaproject
that will expand the Panama Canal. The expansion
will be greater than at any time since the canal's
construction. The Panama Canal Authority proposed
the project after years of study. Panamanian President
Martín Torrijos presented the plan on April
24, 2006 and Panamanian citizens approved it in a
national referendum by 76.8% of votes on October 22,
2006. The project will double the canal's capacity
and allow more traffic.
The project will create a new lane of traffic along
the Canal by constructing a new set of locks. Details
of the project include the following integrated components:
Construction of two lock complexes — one on
the Atlantic side and another on the Pacific side
— each with three chambers, which include three
water-saving basins;
Excavation of new access channels to the new locks
and the widening of existing navigational channels;
and,
Deepening of the navigation channels and the elevation
of Gatun Lake’s maximum operating level.
As stipulated by the Panamanian Constitution, any
project to expand the Canal had to be approved by
the Cabinet, the National Assembly and by a referendum.
On Friday July 14, the National Assembly unanimously
approved the proposal. In addition, the Assembly passed
a law mandating a national referendum on the proposal.
The referendum was held on October 22, 2006, the first
Sunday more than 90 days after National Assembly approval.
The Project
The Canal today has two lanes each with its
own set of locks. The proposal consists of adding
a third lane through the construction of lock complexes
at each end of the Canal. One lock complex
will be located on the Pacific side to the southwest
of the existing Miraflores Locks. The other complex
will be located to the east of the existing Gatun
Locks. Each of these new lock complexes will have
three consecutive chambers designed to move vessels
from sea level to the level of Gatun Lake and back
down again. Each chamber will have three lateral water-saving
basins, for a total of nine basins per lock and 18
basins total. Just like the existing locks, the new
locks and their basins will be filled and emptied
by gravity, without the use of pumps. The location
of the new locks uses a significant portion of the
area excavated by the United States in 1939 and suspended
in 1942 because of the start of World War II. The
new locks will be connected to the existing channel
system through new navigational channels.
The new lock chambers will be 427 meters (1,400 feet)
long, by 55 meters (180 feet) wide, and 18.3 meters
(60 feet) deep. They will use rolling gates instead
of miter gates, which are used by the existing locks.
Rolling gates are used in almost all existing locks
with dimensions similar to those being proposed, and
are a well-proven technology. The new locks will use
tugboats to position the vessels instead of locomotives.
As in the case of the rolling gates, tugs are successfully
and widely utilized for these purposes in locks of
similar dimensions.
Navigational channels
According to the plan, a 3.2 km-long access channel
will be excavated to connect the new Atlantic locks
with the existing sea entrance of the Canal. To connect
the new Pacific-side locks with the existing channels,
two new access channels will be built:
The north access channel, which will connect the
new Pacific-side lock with the Gaillard Cut, circumventing
Miraflores Lake, and which will be 6.2 km long; and,
The south access channel, which will connect the new
lock with the existing sea entrance on the Pacific
Ocean, and which will be 1.8 km long (see figure 5).
The new channels will be at least 218 meters (715
feet) wide, both on the Atlantic and Pacific sides,
which will permit Post-Panamax vessels to navigate
in these channels in a single direction at any time.
Gatun Lake raised 1.5 feet
All Canal elevations are referred to Precise Level
Datum (PLD), which is close to Atlantic and Pacific
entrance mean sea level. The maximum operational level
of Gatun Lake will be raised by approximately 0.45
meters (1.5 feet) — from the present PLD level
of 26.7 meters (87.5 feet) to a PLD level of 27.1
meters (89 feet). Combined with the widening and deepening
of the navigational channels, this component will
increase Gatun Lake’s usable water reserve capacity
and will allow the Canal’s water system to supply
a daily average of 165 million gallons (625 million
liters) of additional water. This additional water
volume is enough to provide an annual average of approximately
1,100 additional lockages without affecting the water
supply for human use, which is provided from Gatun
and Alhajuela Lakes.
