The Panama Canal - an engineering marvel

February 18, 2016

First off, let me say. If anyone needing a project idea for a history, Spanish, economics, engineeing, political science, or cultural studies class comes to you for help, tell them Panama. Then have yourself a drink because you just won the advice game.

I had no idea the history of the canal or the railroad before it, or that Panama played a big part in the gold rush. I'm a little sad I don't have any classes like that to write papers for because I think the research would be fascinating. I don't have the motivation to just do it on my own though, before you suggest it. Okay, on to the main event.

The Panama Canal.  Known worldwide as the way to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific without going around the southern tip of the continent.  It is only 77km long, and takes boats through Gatun Lake which is 85 feet above sea level.  3 sets of locks (Miraflores, Pedro Miguel, Gatun, Pacific to Atlantic) raise and lower the ships.  I visited Miraflores which is just 20 mins by bus outside of Panama City.

I made sure to get to the canal earlyish in the morning since all the guide books said then, and in the late afternoon, were when to see big ships going through. (This meant one abandoned attempt the day before when I couldn't figure out buses fast enough)

I got there at 10:00, just in time for a showing of the hourly film about the canal. Exiting from that, a big ship was just getting ready to go through the locks.

As one old guy near me said, it was about as fun as watching paint dry. Nothing went fast. But everything that went into it was incredible. (PS. this post is going to be chock full of facts. But really interesting ones! Promise!)

The 42 sets of lock gates along the 77 km of the canal are each 20m wide, 2m deep, and 14-25m tall depending on their location. (Much bigger than the 22m wide and 9m deep canal the French first planned for.) The first gates at Miraflores Lock on the Pacific side are the tallest to accommodate the tidal fluxes. And they're all the original gates from 1914. The opening and closing was changed from 40HP motors to hydraulic, but the doors are original which is kind of incredible.

Then there's the fact that ships are built to Panama canal sizes. The Panamax ship is the largest that goes through, leaving just a foot of clearance on either side. They measure 160ft long and 100ft wide. The Panama Canal is the only canal worldwide where the ships captain gives up control of his ship. Canal captains go to nautical school especially to navigate the canal. Ships are also guided by 4-8 electric 'mules' which are the locomotives on either side. They have steel cables attached to keep the ship away from the sides of the lock.

The locks are all gravity run, so to bump the boat up a level to the next chamber, that chamber drained and filled the lower lock. So they essentially met in the middle. Then the mules and tug boats accompanying the big one got it through the gate, to bump up once more to the level of the next locks.

I thought it was fun watching the workers on the boat having as much fun going through as us watching them.

One more boat went after, and that was all for the morning dockett. I'm not positive, but I imagine morning goes Pacific to Caribbean and afternoon brings ships the other way. The canal does operate 24 hours a day, until 1963 it only operated 12.

Tugs following the first boat in

For a hefty fee, you yourself can foray into the canal 

Average time is 8-10 hours to get through the canal, the fastest time was 2 hours and some change by a US military hydrofoil boat. Boats pay depending on size ant type of ship. Cruise ships have a toll per bed and container ships per container. On average it costs $30,000-40,000 for the passage. The most paid was $375,000 by a French cruise ship, and the least was Richard Halliburton who paid $0.36 in 1928 to swim through. He paid for 150 lbs of weight.

Canal selfie! I was there!

After the last ship, I checked out the museum in the visitors center which was magnificently done. The signs were clear and interesting, there were artifacts from construction, diagrams of the canal, and scale models of a bunch of ships, tugs, and dredge barges. Lots about the expansion project started in 2007 too.

Another canal selfie

I really enjoyed the museum, and the canal experience. I thought the interpretive aspect of it was top notch.

Interactive exhibit where you get to be the pilot. Three TV screens provided a wrap-around cockpit.

Model of the lock gates. Guy in the background for scale.

Models of the dredge ships (barges?) That are working on the expansion project.

More facts I haven't squeezed in yet:

-In 1880 the French lost 20,000 workers in 5 years to yellow fever and malaria, though they didn't know yet what it was. The US lost about 5,000 during their successful attempt.

-45,000 workers helped build the canal, the majority from the West Indies.

-It took 7 years for the US to get through the Culebra Cut, where the canal goes through the mountain range. More than 153 million m3 were excavated, the material could have built 63 Giza size pyramids.

And to round out the day, we passed by the Panama railway on the way home.

Verdict: I didn't like Panama City all that much, but I highly recommend seeing the canal.