The Panama Canal - A True Man Made Wonder Of The World

Lying in the heart of Panama is a seventy-seven kilometer ship canal joining the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean

. Since its inauguration, the Canal has become one of the key pieces that foster international shipping trade.

The Canal is acknowledged as one of the most difficult engineering projects man has ever undertaking. Before the canal, ships had to circle the South American continent or go through the Strait of Magellan in order to reach the other side of the world. Now, with the Canal's system of interlocking gates, the travel distance is cut more than half from 22,500 kms original journey to the current 9,500 kms travel from San Francisco to New York City by way of water.

The whole project was undertaken from 1904 to 1914 with many workers, as many as 5,600 perishing due to malaria, yellow fever and onsite accidents. After its completion, the United States controlled the canal until 1977 when a transitional joint US-Panamanian governance oversaw the Canal's operations. In December 31, 1999, full authority was entrusted to the Panama Canal Authority, an agency and auspices of the Panamanian government.

The man that made the project a reality is a list of engineers, led by John Frank Stevens who was Chief Engineer from 1905 to 1907. He oversaw the creation of the Panama railway and approved the system of dams and locks to allow the passage of the ships through the Canal. The Canal was completed under the auspices of US Col. George Washington Goethals as Chief Engineer.

The Canal was not the only major engineering achievement in the project. There was the creation of the railway, the creation of Gatun Lake, the Madden Dam, the research on malaria and yellow fever together with other countless engineering innovations in moving earth, explosives and engineering management.

In essence, the Canal is a system of interconnected artificial lakes, channels and locks. Upon entry in the Gulf of Panama or Pacific side of the Canal, the ship travels 13.2 km to the first set of locks called the Miraflores locks. This lock system has two stages, the first being the approach wall, which is 1.7 km long leading to the Miraflores Lake. From there, the ship approaches the Pedro Miguel lock, which is 1.4 km long and from there the ship is guided to the Gaillard Cut through the accepted continental divide. From there, the ship reaches the Gatun Lake, which is fed by the Chagres River, to allow the ship to go through the Gatun locks. This lock system is a three-stage lock set up running to 1.9 kms that releases the ship into the Atlantic side on Limon Bay.

Over the years, improvements in the canal's capacity to assist maritime activities were undertaken. This includes new canal locks to accommodate US warships traveling into the Pacific theater of war. Also, environmental studies have now been undertaking research programs on the impact of the canal lock system in the sea flora and fauna in and around the Panama Canal System.

by: Bobby Castro

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