Panama Canal


The Panama Canal is a lake-and-lock type canal connecting the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Isthmus of Panama, in Central America. Its length from the deep waters of the Atlantic to the deep Pacific is 51 miles (82 km). By using the canal (instead of going around Cape Horn), ships sailing between the coasts of the United States can shorten their voyage by about 8,000 nautical miles.
Panama Canal Time Line

The main decision facing the engineers was whether to build a sea level or high-level, lake-and-lock canal. In 1897, the French engineer, Adolphe Godin de Lepinay proposed the creation of dams on the Chagres and Rio Grande Rivers, creating lakes that would be connected by a cut through the continental divide. Although early developers rejected this idea, it soon became the basis for the final draft in 1906 by John F. Stevens. Stevens was the chief engineer of the U.S. Isthmian Canal commission. U.S. construction of the canal had begun in 1904 but was stimulated after the U.S. congress adapted Stevens plan. The canal opened to traffic on August 15 1914. There has been much dispute between American and Panamanian sovereignty of the waterway, but the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 established that the Republic of Panama will take complete control of the canal in the year 2000.
Panama Canal Flow Chart

Vessels are taken in by electric towing locomotives that operate on tracks on the lock walls. Usually six locomotives accompany one ship. Because the locks are duplicate, ships can pass in either direction simultaneously. Including the waiting period, ships require fifteen to twenty hours for passage. Common goods that are transported through the canal are crude oil and petroleum products, grains, coal, and coke.

The Panama Canal has greatly increased the efficiency of transportation of economic goods for the entire world.
 
 
Size Length, 51 miles from deep water to deep water. Minimum width of the navigable channel is 500 feet
Locks Six pairs, or a total of 12. Each is 1,000 feet long and 110 feet wide. Normal permissible transit draft is 39 1/2 feet of tropical fresh water. The lock system lifts ships to 85 feet above sea level.
Construction Work begun by United States May 4, 1904. Opened for traffic Aug. 15, 1914. Earth and rock excavated before opening, 239 million cubic yards. Initial cost, $380,000,000.
Approximate distance saved
by using the canal		 New York City to San Francisco, Calif., 7,900; Liverpool, England, to San Francisco, 5,600; New York City to Yokohama, Japan (compared with a Suez Canal route), 3,300.
Tolls Laden merchant ships, $1.83 per measurement ton. (A Panama Canal measurement ton is each 100 cubic feet of space usable for revenue.) Ships in ballast, without cargo or passengers, $1.46 per measurement ton. Special vessels, $1.02 per displacement ton (each long ton 2,240 pounds of water displaced).

Panama Canal Achievements:
In the year 1915, the first year of operation, about 5 million tons of cargo were shipped through the Panama Canal. In 1924, 27 million tons of cargo were carried through it. Between 1925 and 1941 the annual amount varied between 18 million and 31 million. There was a dip in total cargo during World War II, but since then nearly every year has shown an increase. The figure for 1950 was about 30 million tons. By the early 1960s the volume had almost doubled. The Panama canal has also accomplished many other things in its 74 years of presence.
  1. About 32 oceangoing vessels pass through the canal daily
  2. All ships passing through the canal pay an average of $28,000 for passage
  3. About 140 million tons of oceangoing commercial cargo are shipped through the canal in a single year
  4. Over 2.4 million tons of automobiles are moved through the canal every year, most of them being transported from Japan to the United States.
  5. Vessels using the canal come from more than 70 nations

Panama Canal Picture Gallery