Along the route of the canal there is a series of 3 sets of locks, the Gatun, Pedro Miguel and the Miraflores locks.
At Gatun there are 2 parallel sets of locks each consisting of 3 flights. This set of locks lift ships a total of 26 metres. The locks are constructed from concrete from which the aggregate originated from the excavated rock at Culebra. The excavated rock was crushed and then used as aggregate. In excess of 1.53 million cubic metres of concrete was used in the construction of the Gatun locks alone.
Initially the locks at Gatun had been designed as 28.5 metres wide. In 1908 the United States Navy requested that the locks should be increased to have a width of at least 36 metres. This would allow for the passage of US naval ships. Eventually a compromise was made and the locks were to be constructed to a width of 33 metres. Each lock is 300 metres long with the walls ranging in thickness from 15 metres at the base to 3 metres at the top. The central wall between the parallel locks at Gatun has a thickness of 18 metres and stands in excess of 24 metres in height. The lock gates are made from steel and measures an average of 2 metres thick, 19.5 metres in length and stand 20 metres in height.
When Colonel Geothals the American designer of the Panama Canal visited the Kiel Canal in 1912 he was told the canal should have been built 36 metres in width, but by then it was too late. The locks can be seen during construction below. A general picture of the Gatun locks can be seen below.
The smallest set of locks along the Panama Canal are at Pedro Miguel and have one flight which raise or lower ships 10 metres. The Miraflores locks have two flights with a combined lift or decent of 16.5 metres.
Both the single flight of locks at Pedro Miguel and the twin flights at Miraflores are constructed and operated in a similar method as the Gatun locks, but with differing dimensions.
The Dams
Many engineering aspects of the Panama Canal point out the concern for the protection of the environment and natural resources.
As the excavations were being carried out, an enormous amount of excess soil was produced. The French initially hauled the soil to an adjacent valley where the soil was dumped and allowed to build up. This itself caused many problems during the rainy season and was the cause behind many of the landslides.
When the Americans started work on the canal, the engineers decided to reuse this soil for the building of the Gatun dam. This dam held back the water from the Chagres river and thus creating the Gatun lake. As time passed, the soil would continue to settle thus, increasing the strength of the dam.
The dam itself is 1.5 miles in length and is nearly 0.5 mile wide at its base. The construction of the dam involved constructing 2 walls along its length using the excavated rock from the Culebra cut. The space between these 2 walls was then built up with impervious clay. This clay gradually dried and hardened into a solid mass almost equal to concrete in its water-resistant properties. This dam contains 16.9 million cubic metres of rock and clay, equivalent too about one tenth of the entire excavation of the canal.
The dams at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores are small in comparison to Gatun. Their foundations are on solid rock and are subjected to a head of water of 12 metres, whereas the Gatun dam is subjected to a 24 metre head.
The dam at Pedro Miguel is an earth dam approximately 300 metres in length with a concrete core wall.
At Miraflores there are two dams forming a small lake with an area of about 2 square miles. One of the dams is constructed of earth and is 210 metres in length. The second of the dams at Miraflores is 150 metres in length and is made from concrete.
The Future
The ships for which the canal was designed are now long gone. Modern shipping has increased the size of ships. The increase in the tonnage in which can be carried has thus caused problems for the canal. The canal can only accommodate ships carrying up to 65,000 tons of cargo, but recently ships which are able to carry 300,000 tons have been introduced.
The problem of the ever-increasing size in ships has caused discussion into the construction of a new canal joining the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. There have been discussions on three alternative routes for a new canal, through; Columbia, Mexico and Nicaragua. The Columbian and Mexican routes would allow for the construction of a sea level canal, whereas the Nicaraguan route would require a lock system.
If a replacement canal were to be constructed, the economic effect on the Republic of Panama would be a great concern as the present canal employs 14,000 people, of which 4,000 are Panamanians. It has been suggested that, if a new canal were to be built, the existing canal could be converted to a hydroelectric power station at a relatively small cost. As Panama has no iron-ore deposits and lacks oil, natural gas resources or skilled labour, there is no real need for a new source of cheap power.
The capacity of the existing canal could be increased by converting it to a sea level passage. This would be carried out by the dredging of more than 765 million cubic metres of earth and rock which could be carried out without interfering with existing canal traffic. Water retaining structures would be constructed to maintain the canal levels during excavation. When excavation had been completed, the water retaining structure would be demolished by blasting them into deep pits. The lowering of the canals level would take place over a seven day period and would be the only time traffic would be disrupted.
It was suggested during the 1960's that the canal could be increased in size by the use of nuclear explosives and would cost less than one third, and take about half the time than using conventional excavation methods. It is now obvious that this would cause a great deal of concern for all anti-nuclear groups.
The Panama Canals administration will be under the control of Panama in 1999.
Conclusion
What makes the Panama Canal remarkable is its self sufficiency. The dam at Gatun, is able to generate the electricity to run all the motors which operate the canal as well as the locomotives in charge of towing the ships through the canal. No force is required to adjust the water level between the locks except gravity. As the lock operates, the water simply flows into the locks from the lakes or flows out to the sea level channels. The canal also relies on the overabundant rainfall of the area to compensate for the loss of the 52 million gallons of fresh water consumed during each crossing.
Despite the limit in ship size, the canal is still one of the most highly travelled waterways in the world, handling over 12,000 ships per year. The 51-mile crossing takes about nine hours to complete, an immense time saving when compared with rounding the tip of South America.
Until the early 1970's the Panama Canal Company made considerable profits. After a period of nearly 60 years the loss in profit required the increase of tolls 3 times in 4 years. Much of the equipment, some of which dates back too 1914, now requires expensive modifications, simply to continue moving its present rate of traffic.
The original plan for the Panama Canal was evolved from many years of engineering study, but it was unfortunate that it had not been based on marine operating experience.
Coolest thing is after the last lock..that is if going from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, is to run to the back of the ship on Promenade deck level and look back to the lock behind you........The water level behind you looks higher then the ship.........Really neat to see it in person, pictures can't describe it.
Yes, along time ago why ??? It's something I will never forget going thru for sure!
Just wondered..........we have done this once and have a 15 day booked again in October........I like trading actual experiences..........Jimbo and I are talking........he has taken the same cruise and ship we are taking in October.
We took the trip back in 1984. It was a nice experience.
I find that talk of converting to a sea level canal interesting. I recall being told that it was not pratical because of the greater tide action on the Pacific side.
Jimbo, did you do the full or partial? We are, in April, doing the partial transit on the Coral Princess, RT Ft Lauderdale, 10 days....there are no afts on that ship (GASP!!) but we have a cat BA on the Coral Deck, C603....do you have any recommendations as to must sees, etc??? Thank you, as usual!!
We took the trip back in 1984. It was a nice experience.
I find that talk of converting to a sea level canal interesting. I recall being told that it was not pratical because of the greater tide action on the Pacific side.
That's what I read, too... 22' tide on the Pacific side. Also concerns about the sea water fouling the lakes from which the water is processed for drinking water.
Just wondered..........we have done this once and have a 15 day booked again in October........I like trading actual experiences..........Jimbo and I are talking........he has taken the same cruise and ship we are taking in October.
We did the full canal in 1986. Florida to end in Acapolco (sp). It took all day and we never stopped for excursions that I remember. We did visit the island of San Blas and I was so amazed how they lived!
Jimbo, did you do the full or partial? We are, in April, doing the partial transit on the Coral Princess, RT Ft Lauderdale, 10 days....there are no afts on that ship (GASP!!) but we have a cat BA on the Coral Deck, C603....do you have any recommendations as to must sees, etc??? Thank you, as usual!!
We did the full transit from San Diego to Miami on Radiance of the Seas......14 wonderful days....best cruise to date, will never forget it. We went in October, the weather was great for us, only rained for about an hour just after we cleared the last Lock.
It can be very warm though so make sure you drink plenty of water if you stay out on deck. We would duck in and out the whole day, it took about 11 hours to go through the whole thing.
Some people were up really early to get a good spot on the bow of the ship on the heli-port deck. We choose to go up there during the last lock, after it has cooled off some and after the early people on the first 2 locks got tired from the long day and heat.
Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers
-
Centrum Deck
-
Cruise Places
-
Panama Canal
-
The Locks
#
The Locks
Jimbo, did you do the full or partial? We are, in April, doing the partial transit on the Coral Princess, RT Ft Lauderdale, 10 days....there are no afts on that ship (GASP!!) but we have a cat BA on the Coral Deck, C603....do you have any recommendations as to must sees, etc??? Thank you, as usual!!
Linear Mode
