I’m sure many of my
readers have transited the Panama Canal, so this will serve as a summary and
will require a couple of posts to even accomplish that.
At both the Miraflores
and Gatun Locks we had to pass through metal detectors and have all bags etc scanned. Just part of normal life these days! The
Panama Canal is one of the great engineering feats of all time. The locks were
designed to lift ships from sea level up 85-feet to Lake Gatun. It is amazing
that 100 years later the locks are in near perfect condition. However, the
canal is presently building larger locks alongside the present ones to
accommodate today’s large mega ships. The new lock construction, parallel to
the original locks, is due to be completed this year. The new locks will use
recycled water whereas the present locks do not. Today the canal employs 9,000
workers. There are three observation towers and a visitor center at the
Miraflores locks.
Heavy rainfall and several rivers feed the
lake for the canal to function. Hydro-electric power is also generated.
Forty ships a day transit
the almost 50-mile long canal bringing 500 million dollars to Panama. In a year
over 13,000 ships from 79 countries make the trip. The Canal saves ships 2000
miles if they had to sail around the tip of South America. Today all
arrangements must be made and paid for in cash in advance of transit.
Fees are based on tonnage
for laden ships and is less for ships in ballast. In the late 1800s the French
Company attempted to build a canal, but disease (malaria, plague, and yellow
fever), rain, mud, scandal, corruption and the loss of 16-20,000 lives
eventually bankrupted the company.
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| Freighter passing through Miraflores Locks |
The US negotiated a
favorable treaty with Panama in 1903 and started construction. The
geographically stable area was a big consideration for the site of the canal.
In 1904 Col. William Gorges undertook the problems of sanitation and the task
of eliminating mosquito breeding areas in the jungle.
Ten years later, in 1914,
the canal was complete. It had taken the labor of 75,000 men to build this
marvel, often referred to as one of the man-made wonders of the world.
Because of World War I
the official inauguration was postponed until 1920. The United States was given
control of the canal for 100 years.
There are six locks in
the canal, three on each end. They are 110-feet wide and 1050-feet long. Each
lock has two chambers, side by side, so ships can go in either direction at the
same time. Four and a half million cubic feet of concrete were needed for the
locks and dam. The gates are seven feet thick. The drop and rise in each of the
locks is 28 feet. The water drops 39-inches a minute through 18-inch culverts.
All the water in the locks and lakes is fresh, fed by the mighty Chagres River
and two smaller rivers.
On the Pacific end, the
first two adjoining locks (or the last two if you are transiting south) are the
Miraflores locks. The original 39 mules
were built by General Electric for a total
cost of $528,680. The new mules built by Mitsubishi cost $2 million dollars each.
Miraflores Lake, at the
end of the second lock, is small with a yacht harbor at the north end.
The next lock, Pedro San Miguel,
is a single lock. Leaving this lock one can glimpse the mouth of the Rio Grande
River.
To be continued next time
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