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Wikipedia

Panama Canal

August 20, 2023

The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 mi) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.

Panama Canal
Canal de Panamá
A schematic of the Panama Canal, illustrating the sequence of locks and passages
Specifications
Length82 km (51 miles)
Maximum boat length366 m (1,200 ft 9 in)
Maximum boat beam49 m (160 ft 9 in)
(originally 28.5 m or 93 ft 6 in)
Maximum boat draft15.2 m (50 ft)
Maximum boat air draft57.91 m (190.0 ft)
Locks3 locks up, 3 down per transit; all three lanes
(3 lanes of locks)
StatusOpen, expansion opened June 26, 2016
Navigation authorityPanama Canal Authority
History
Original ownerSociété internationale du Canal
Principal engineerFerdinand de Lesseps, John Findley Wallace (1904–1905), John Frank Stevens (1905–1907), George Washington Goethals (1907–1914)
Construction beganMay 4, 1904; 119 years ago (1904-05-04)
Date completedAugust 15, 1914; 109 years ago (1914-08-15)
Date extendedJune 26, 2016; 7 years ago (2016-06-26)
Geography
Start pointAtlantic Ocean
End pointPacific Ocean
Connects toPacific Ocean from Atlantic Ocean and vice versa
Location of Panama between the Pacific Ocean (bottom) and the Caribbean Sea (top), with the canal at top center

Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904, and opened the canal in 1914. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government in 1999. It is now managed and operated by the government-owned Panama Canal Authority.

Canal locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, New Panamax ships.[1]

Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal.[2] In 2017 it took ships an average of 11.38 hours to pass between the canal's two locks.[3] The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.[4]

History

Main article: History of the Panama Canal

Early proposals in Panama

 
Satellite image showing the location of the Panama Canal: dense jungles are visible in green, topped by clouds.

The earliest record regarding a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was in 1534, when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a survey for a route through the Americas in order to ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru. The Spanish were seeking to gain a military advantage over the Portuguese.[5]

In 1668, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne speculated in his encyclopedic work, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, that "some Isthmus have been eaten through by the Sea, and others cut by the spade: And if the policy would permit, that of Panama in America were most worthy the attempt: it being but few miles over, and would open a shorter cut unto the East Indies and China".[6]

Given the strategic location of Panama, and the potential of its narrow isthmus separating two great oceans, other trade links in the area were attempted over the years. One early example of this was ill-fated Darien scheme, launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up an overland trade route. Generally inhospitable conditions thwarted the effort, and it was abandoned in April 1700.[7] In 1788, Americans suggested that the Spanish should build the canal, since they controlled the colonies where it would be built. They said that this would be a less treacherous route for ships than going around the southern tip of South America, and that tropical ocean currents would naturally widen the canal after construction.[8] During an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for construction of a canal.[9]

Numerous canals were built in other countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The success of the Erie Canal through central New York in the United States in the 1820s, and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America resulted in growing American interest in building an inter-oceanic canal. Beginning in 1826, US officials began negotiations with Gran Colombia (present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama), hoping to gain a concession to build a canal. Jealous of their newly gained independence and fearing domination by the more powerful United States, president Simón Bolívar and New Granada officials declined American offers. After the collapse of Gran Colombia, New Granada remained unstable under constant government intrigue.[citation needed]

Great Britain attempted to develop a canal in 1843. According to the New-York Daily Tribune, August 24, 1843, Barings Bank of London and the Republic of New Granada entered into a contract for the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien (Isthmus of Panama). They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal, and it was a wholly British endeavor. Projected for completion in five years, the plan was never carried out. At nearly the same time, other ideas were floated, including a canal (and/or a railroad) across Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec. That did not develop, either.[10]

In 1846, the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty, negotiated between the US and New Granada, granted the United States transit rights and the right to intervene militarily in the isthmus. In 1848, the discovery of gold in California, on the West Coast of the United States, generated renewed interest in a canal crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. William Henry Aspinwall, who had won the federal subsidy to build and operate the Pacific mail steamships at around the same time, benefited from the gold discovery. Aspinwall's route included steamship legs from New York City to Panama, and from Panama to California, with an overland portage through Panama. This route with an overland leg in Panama was soon frequently traveled, as it provided one of the fastest connections between San Francisco, California, and the East Coast cities, about 40 days' transit in total. Nearly all the gold that was shipped out of California went by the fast Panama route. Several new and larger paddle steamers were soon plying this new route, including private steamship lines owned by American entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt that made use of an overland route through Nicaragua, and the unfortunate SS Central America.[11][page needed]

In 1850 the United States began construction of the Panama Railroad (now called the Panama Railway) to cross the isthmus; it opened in 1855. This overland link became a vital piece of Western Hemisphere infrastructure, greatly facilitating trade. The later canal route was constructed parallel to it, as it had helped clear dense forests.[citation needed] An all-water route between the oceans was still the goal. In 1855 William Kennish, a Manx-born engineer working for the United States government, surveyed the isthmus and issued a report on a route for a proposed Panama Canal.[12] His report was published as a book entitled The Practicability and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[13][page needed]

In 1876, Lucien Napoléon Bonaparte Wyse and his chief assistant Armand Réclus, both officers and engineers of the French Navy, explored several routes in the Darien-Atrato regions, and made proposals including the construction of tunnels and locks.[14][page needed] A second Isthmian exploratory visit began on December 6, 1877, where two routes were explored in Panama, the San Blas route and a route from Limon Bay to Panama City, the current Canal route. The French had achieved success in building the Suez Canal in the Middle East. While it was a lengthy project, they were encouraged to plan for a canal to cross the Panamanian isthmus.[15] Wyse went to Bogotá and on March 20, 1878, signed a treaty, in the name of the Société Civile Internationale du Canal Interocéanique par l'isthme du Darien headed by general Étienne Türr, with the Colombian government, known as the Wyse concession, to build an interoceanic canal through Panama.

French construction attempts, 1881–1899

 
Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French originator of the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal

The first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia's province of Panama began on January 1, 1881. The project was inspired by the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was able to raise considerable funds in France as a result of the huge profits generated by his successful construction of the Suez Canal.[16] Although the Panama Canal needed to be only 40 percent as long as the Suez Canal, it was much more of an engineering challenge because of the combination of tropical rain forests, debilitating climate, the need for canal locks, and the lack of any ancient route to follow.

Lesseps wanted a sea-level canal (like the Suez), but he visited the site only a few times, during the dry season which lasts only four months of the year.[17] His men were totally unprepared for the rainy season, during which the Chagres River, where the canal started, became a raging torrent, rising up to 10 m (33 ft). The dense jungle was alive with venomous snakes, insects, and spiders, but the worst challenges were yellow fever, malaria, and other tropical diseases, which killed thousands of workers; by 1884, the death rate was over 200 per month.[18] Public health measures were ineffective because the role of the mosquito as a disease vector was then unknown. Conditions were downplayed in France to avoid recruitment problems,[19] but the high mortality rate made it difficult to maintain an experienced workforce.

 
Excavator at work in Bas Obispo, 1886
 
Share of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique de Panama, issued 29. November 1880 – signed by Ferdinand de Lesseps

Workers had to continually widen the main cut through the mountain at Culebra and reduce the angles of the slopes to minimize landslides into the canal.[20] Steam shovels were used in the construction of the canal, purchased from Bay City Industrial Works, a business owned by William L. Clements in Bay City, Michigan.[21] Bucket chain excavators manufactured by both Alphonse Couvreux and Wehyer & Richemond and Buette were also used.[22] Other mechanical and electrical equipment was limited in capabilities, and steel equipment rusted rapidly in the rainy climate.[23]

In France, Lesseps kept the investment and supply of workers flowing long after it was obvious that the targets were not being met, but eventually the money ran out. The French effort went bankrupt in 1889 after reportedly spending US$287,000,000; an estimated 22,000 men died from disease and accidents, and the savings of 800,000 investors were lost.[19][24] Work was suspended on May 15, and in the ensuing scandal, known as the Panama affair, some of those deemed responsible were prosecuted, including Gustave Eiffel.[25] Lesseps and his son Charles were found guilty of misappropriation of funds and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. This sentence was later overturned, and the father, at age 88, was never imprisoned.[19]

In 1894, a second French company, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama, was created to take over the project. A minimal workforce of a few thousand people was employed primarily to comply with the terms of the Colombian Panama Canal concession, to run the Panama Railroad, and to maintain the existing excavation and equipment in salable condition. The company sought a buyer for these assets, with an asking price of US$109,000,000. In the meantime, they continued with enough activity to maintain their franchise. Phillipe Bunau-Varilla, the French manager of the New Panama Canal Company, eventually managed to persuade Lesseps that a lock-and-lake canal was more realistic than a sea-level canal.[26]The Comité Technique, a high level technical committee, was formed by the Compagnie Nouvelle to review the studies and work—that already finished and that still ongoing—and come up with the best plan for completing the canal. The committee arrived on the Isthmus in February 1896 and went immediately, quietly and efficiently about their work of devising the best possible canal plan, which they presented on November 16, 1898. Many aspects of the plan were similar in principle to the canal that was finally built by the Americans in 1914.[27] It was a lock canal with two high level lakes to lift ships up and over the Continental Divide. Double locks would be 738 feet long and about 30 feet deep (225 m × 9 m); one chamber of each pair would be 82 feet (25 m) wide, the other 59 ft (18 m). There would be eight sets of locks, two at Bohio Soldado and two at Obispo on the Atlantic side; one at Paraiso, two at Pedro Miguel, and one at Miraflores on the Pacific. Artificial lakes would be formed by damming the Chagres River at Bohio and Alhajuela, providing both flood control and electric power.

United States acquisition

 
The US's intentions to influence the area (especially the Panama Canal construction and control) led to the separation of Panama from Colombia in 1903.
 
The Culebra Cut in 1896
 
The Culebra Cut in 1902

At this time, the President and the Senate of the United States were interested in establishing a canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a canal across Nicaragua and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama. Bunau-Varilla, who was seeking American involvement, asked for $100 million, but accepted $40 million in the face of the Nicaraguan option. In June 1902, the US Senate voted in favor of the Spooner Act, to pursue the Panamanian option, provided the necessary rights could be obtained.[28]

On January 22, 1903, the Hay–Herrán Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Colombian Chargé Dr. Tomás Herrán. For $10 million and an annual payment, it would have granted the United States a renewable lease in perpetuity from Colombia on the land proposed for the canal.[29] The treaty was ratified by the US Senate on March 14, 1903, but the Senate of Colombia did not ratify it. Bunau-Varilla told President Theodore Roosevelt and Hay of a possible revolt by Panamanian rebels who aimed to separate from Colombia, and hoped that the United States would support the rebels with US troops and money.[citation needed]

Roosevelt changed tactics, based in part on the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty of 1846, and actively supported the separation of Panama from Colombia. Shortly after recognizing Panama, he signed a treaty with the new Panamanian government under terms similar to the Hay–Herrán Treaty.[30]

On November 2, 1903, US warships blocked sea lanes against possible Colombian troop movements en route to put down the Panama rebellion. Panama declared independence on November 3, 1903. The United States quickly recognized the new nation.[31] This happened so quickly that by the time the Colombian government in Bogotá launched a response to the Panamanian uprising US troops had already entered the rebelling province. The Colombian troops dispatched to Panama were hastily assembled conscripts with little training. While these conscripts may have been able to defeat the Panamanian rebels, they would not have been able to defeat the US army troops that were supporting the Panamanian rebels. The reason an army of conscripts was sent was that it was the best response the Colombians could muster, as Colombia still was recovering from a civil war between Liberals and Conservatives from October, 1899 to November, 1902 known as the "Thousand Days War". With the US being fully aware of these conditions and even incorporating them into the planning of the Panama intervention as the US acted as an arbitrator between the two sides; with the peace treaty that ended the "Thousand Days War" being signed on the USS Wisconsin on November 21, 1902. While in port the US also brought engineering teams to Panama, with the peace delegation, to begin planning for the canal's construction before the US had even gained the rights to build the canal. All these factors would result in the Colombians being unable to put down the Panamanian rebellion and expel the United States troops occupying what today is the independent nation of Panama.[32]

On November 6, 1903, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, as Panama's ambassador to the United States, signed the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, granting rights to the United States to build and indefinitely administer the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses. This is sometimes misinterpreted as the "99-year lease" because of misleading wording included in article 22 of the agreement.[33] Almost immediately, the treaty was condemned by many Panamanians as an infringement on their country's new national sovereignty.[34][35] This would later become a contentious diplomatic issue among Colombia, Panama, and the United States.

President Roosevelt famously stated, "I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia: The New York Times described the support given by the United States to Bunau-Varilla as an "act of sordid conquest".[citation needed] The New York Evening Post called it a "vulgar and mercenary venture".[citation needed] The US maneuvers are often cited as the classic example of US gunboat diplomacy in Latin America, and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage, "Speak softly and carry a big stick [and] you will go far." After the revolution in 1903, the Republic of Panama became a US protectorate until 1939.[36]

In 1904, the United States purchased the French equipment and excavations, including the Panama Railroad, for US$40 million, of which $30 million related to excavations completed, primarily in the Culebra Cut, valued at about $1.00 per cubic yard.[37] The United States also paid the new country of Panama $10 million and a $250,000 payment each following year.

In 1921, Colombia and the United States entered into the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty, in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia $25 million: $5 million upon ratification, and four $5 million annual payments, and grant Colombia special privileges in the Canal Zone. In return, Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation.[38]

United States construction of the Panama canal, 1904–1914

 
Chief engineer John Frank Stevens
 
Sanitation officer William C. Gorgas

The US formally took control of the canal property on May 4, 1904, inheriting from the French a depleted workforce and a vast jumble of buildings, infrastructure, and equipment, much of it in poor condition. A US government commission, the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC), was established to oversee construction; it was given control of the Panama Canal Zone, over which the United States exercised sovereignty.[39] The commission reported directly to Secretary of War William Howard Taft and was directed to avoid the inefficiency and corruption that had plagued the French 15 years earlier.

On May 6, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed John Findley Wallace, formerly chief engineer and finally general manager of the Illinois Central Railroad, as chief engineer of the Panama Canal Project. Overwhelmed by the disease-plagued country and forced to use often dilapidated French infrastructure and equipment,[40] as well as being frustrated by the overly bureaucratic ICC, Wallace resigned abruptly in June 1905.[41] The ICC brought on a new chairman, Theodore P. Shonts, and a new chief engineer was appointed, John Frank Stevens, a self-educated engineer who had built the Great Northern Railroad.[42] Stevens was not a member of the ICC; he increasingly viewed its bureaucracy as a serious hindrance, bypassing the commission and sending requests and demands directly to the Roosevelt administration in Washington, DC.

One of Stevens' first achievements in Panama was in building and rebuilding the housing, cafeterias, hotels, water systems, repair shops, warehouses, and other infrastructure needed by the thousands of incoming workers. Stevens began the recruitment effort to entice thousands of workers from the United States and other areas to come to the Canal Zone to work. Workers from the Caribbean—called "Afro-Panamanians"—came in large numbers and many settled permanently. Stevens tried to provide accommodation in which the workers could work and live in reasonable safety and comfort. He also re-established and enlarged the railway, which was to prove crucial in transporting millions of tons of soil from the cut through the mountains to the dam across the Chagres River.

 
President Theodore Roosevelt sitting on a Bucyrus steam shovel at Culebra Cut, 1906
 
Construction work on the Gaillard Cut is shown in this photograph from 1907.

Colonel William C. Gorgas had been appointed chief sanitation officer of the canal construction project in 1904. Gorgas implemented a range of measures to minimize the spread of deadly diseases, particularly yellow fever and malaria, which had recently been shown to be mosquito-borne following the work of, Cuban epidemiologist, Dr. Carlos Finlay and, American pathologist, Dr. Walter Reed.[43] Investment was made in extensive sanitation projects, including city water systems, fumigation of buildings, spraying of insect-breeding areas with oil and larvicide, installation of mosquito netting and window screens, and elimination of stagnant water. Despite opposition from the commission (one member said his ideas were barmy), Gorgas persisted, and when Stevens arrived, he threw his weight behind the project. After two years of extensive work, the mosquito-spread diseases were nearly eliminated.[44] Even after all that effort, about 5,600 workers died of disease and accidents during the US construction phase of the canal.

In 1905, a US engineering panel was commissioned to review the canal design, which had not been finalized. In January 1906 the panel, in a majority of eight to five, recommended to President Roosevelt a sea-level canal,[45] as had been attempted by the French and temporarily abandoned by them in 1887 for a ten locks system designed by Philippe Bunau-Varilla, and definitively in 1898 for a lock-and-lake canal designed by the Comité Technique of the Compagnie Nouvelle de Canal de Panama as conceptualized by Adolphe Godin de Lépinay in 1879.[46] But in 1906 Stevens, who had seen the Chagres in full flood, was summoned to Washington; he declared a sea-level approach to be "an entirely untenable proposition". He argued in favor of a canal using a lock system to raise and lower ships from a large reservoir 85 ft (26 m) above sea level. This would create both the largest dam (Gatun Dam) and the largest human-made lake (Gatun Lake) in the world at that time. The water to refill the locks would be taken from Gatun Lake by opening and closing enormous gates and valves and letting gravity propel the water from the lake. Gatun Lake would connect to the Pacific through the mountains at the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut. Unlike Godin de Lépinay with the Congrès International d'Etudes du Canal Interocéanique, Stevens successfully convinced Roosevelt of the necessity and feasibility of this alternative scheme.[47]

The construction of a canal with locks required the excavation of more than 17 million cu yd (13 million m3) of material over and above the 30 million cu yd (23 million m3) excavated by the French. As quickly as possible, the Americans replaced or upgraded the old, unusable French equipment with new construction equipment that was designed for a much larger and faster scale of work. 102 large, railroad-mounted steam shovels were purchased, 77 from Bucyrus-Erie, and 25 from the Marion Power Shovel Company. These were joined by enormous steam-powered cranes, giant hydraulic rock crushers, concrete mixers, dredges, and pneumatic power drills, nearly all of which were manufactured by new, extensive machine-building technology developed and built in the United States. The railroad also had to be comprehensively upgraded with heavy-duty, double-tracked rails over most of the line to accommodate new rolling stock. In many places, the new Gatun Lake flooded over the original rail line, and a new line had to be constructed above Gatun Lake's waterline.

Between 1912 and 1914 there was a controversy about the tolls for the canal.[48]

 
Construction of locks on the Panama Canal, 1913

Goethals replaces Stevens as chief engineer

 
General George Washington Goethals, who completed the canal.

In 1907, Stevens resigned as chief engineer.[49] His replacement, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt, was US Army Major George Washington Goethals of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Soon to be promoted to lieutenant colonel and later to general, he was a strong, West Point-trained leader and civil engineer with experience in canals (unlike Stevens). Goethals directed the work in Panama to a successful conclusion in 1914, two years ahead of the target date of June 10, 1916.[50]

Goethals divided the engineering and excavation work into three divisions: Atlantic, Central, and Pacific. The Atlantic Division, under Major William L. Sibert, was responsible for construction of the massive breakwater at the entrance to Limon Bay, the Gatun locks, and their 3+1⁄2-mile (5.6 km) approach channel, and the immense Gatun Dam. The Pacific Division, under Sydney B. Williamson (the only civilian member of this high-level team), was similarly responsible for the Pacific 3-mile (4.8 km) breakwater in Panama Bay, the approach channel to the locks, and the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks and their associated dams and reservoirs.[51]

The Central Division, under Major David du Bose Gaillard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, was assigned one of the most difficult parts: excavating the Culebra Cut through the continental divide to connect Gatun Lake to the Pacific Panama Canal locks.[52]

On October 10, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph which triggered the explosion that destroyed the Gamboa Dike. This flooded the Culebra Cut, thereby joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal.[53] Alexandre La Valley (a floating crane built by Lobnitz & Company and launched in 1887) was the first self-propelled vessel to transit the canal from ocean to ocean. This vessel crossed the canal from the Atlantic in stages during construction, finally reaching the Pacific on January 7, 1914.[54] SS Cristobal (a cargo and passenger ship built by Maryland Steel, and launched in 1902 as SS Tremont) on August 3, 1914, was the first ship to transit the canal from ocean to ocean.[55]

The construction of the canal was completed in 1914, 401 years after Panama was first crossed overland by the Europeans in Vasco Núñez de Balboa's party of conquistadores. The United States spent almost $500 million (roughly equivalent to $14.6 billion in 2022)[56] to finish the project. This was by far the largest American engineering project to date. The canal was formally opened on August 15, 1914, with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon.[57]

The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 caused a severe drop in traffic along Chilean ports due to shifts in maritime trade routes,[58][59][60] despite the closure of the canal for nearly seven months after a land-slide in the Culebra Cut on September 18, 1915.[61] The burgeoning sheep farming business in southern Patagonia suffered a significant setback by the change in trade routes,[62] as did the economy of the Falkland Islands.[63]

Throughout this time, Ernest "Red" Hallen was hired by the Isthmian Canal Commission to document the progress of the work.

In 1914 steam shovels from the Panama Canal were purchased and put to use in Chuquicamata copper mine of northern Chile.[64]

  •  

    A Marion steam shovel excavating the Panama Canal in 1908

  •  

    The Panama Canal locks under construction in 1910

  •  

    The first ship to transit the canal, the SS Ancon, passes through on 15 August 1914

  •  

    Spanish laborers working on the Panama Canal in early 1900s

Later developments

See also: § Third set of locks project (expansion)
 
The USS Missouri, an Iowa-class battleship, passes through the canal in 1945. The 108' 2" (32.96 m) beams of the Iowas and preceding South Dakota class were the largest ever to transit the Canal.

By the 1930s, water supply became an issue for the canal, prompting construction of the Madden Dam across the Chagres River above Gatun Lake. Completed in 1935, the dam created Madden Lake (later Alajuela Lake), which provides additional water storage for the canal.[65] In 1939, construction began on a further major improvement: a new set of locks large enough to carry the larger warships that the United States was building at the time and planned to continue building. The work proceeded for several years, and significant excavation was carried out on the new approach channels, but the project was canceled after World War II.[66][67]

After World War II, US control of the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it became contentious; relations between Panama and the United States became increasingly tense. Many Panamanians felt that the Zone rightfully belonged to Panama; student protests were met by the fencing-in of the zone and an increased military presence there.[68] Demands for the United States to hand over the canal to Panama increased after the Suez Crisis in 1956, when the United States used financial and diplomatic pressure to force France and the UK to abandon their attempt to retake control of the Suez Canal, previously nationalized by the Nasser regime in Egypt. Panamanian unrest culminated in riots on Martyr's Day, January 9, 1964, when about 20 Panamanians and 3–5 US soldiers were killed.[citation needed]

 
Statement on the Panama Canal Treaty Signing
President Jimmy Carter's speech upon signing the Panama Canal treaty, September 7, 1977
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A decade later, in 1974, negotiations toward a settlement began and resulted in the Torrijos–Carter Treaties. On September 7, 1977, the treaty was signed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos, de facto leader of Panama. This mobilized the process of granting the Panamanians free control of the canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the canal. The treaty led to full Panamanian control effective at noon on December 31, 1999, and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) assumed command of the waterway. The Panama Canal remains one of the chief revenue sources for Panama.[69][70]

Before this handover, the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25-year contract for operation of the container shipping ports located at the canal's Atlantic and Pacific outlets. The contract was not affiliated with the ACP or Panama Canal operations and was won by the firm Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong–based shipping interest owned by Li Ka-shing.[71]

Canal

Layout

Panama Canal
Legend
 
km
mi
Atlantic Ocean
(Caribbean Sea)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0
 Atlantic Entrance,
Manzanillo Bay Breakwater
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.7
5.4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.7
5.4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cruise terminal, Manzanillo (MIT), Free Trade Zone, E.A. Jiménez Airport,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Atlantic railway station; freight terminal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Atlantic Bridge
(2019)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.9
1.2
 Gatun Locks
3 chambers, +26 m (85 ft)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Agua Clara Locks
(2016) 3 chambers, 3 water saving basins each
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gatun Dam,
Chagres River, hydroelectric power (22.5 MW),[72] spillway
 
 
 
 
24.2
15.0
 Gatun Lake
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gatún River, causeway, Monte Lirio railway bridge
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.5
5.3
 Gamboa
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chagres River,
Madden Dam, Alajuela Lake
 
 
 
 
 
hydroelectric power (36 MW)[72]
 
 
12.6
7.8
 Culebra Cut
(Gaillard Cut)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Continental watershed, summit
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Centennial Bridge (Pan-American Highway, via Panama City)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.4
0.9
 Pedro Miguel Locks
1 chamber, +9.5 m (31 ft)
 
 
 
 
 
 Cocoli Locks
(2016) 3 chambers, 3 water saving basins each
 
 
 
 
 
1.7
1.1
 Miraflores Lake
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.7
1.1
 Miraflores Locks
2 chambers, +16.5 m (54 ft); spillway
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13.2
8.2
 
 
 
 
 
 
13.2
8.2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Diablo (hamlet), M.A. Gelabert Airport,
 
 
 
 
 
 
Corozal railway station; freight terminal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
total
Bridge of the Americas (Arraiján–Panama City)
 
 
 
 
77.1
47.9
 Pacific Entrance
Pacific Ocean
(Gulf of Panama)
Legend
 
 
 Navigable canal
(maximum draft: 39.5 feet (12.0 m))
 
 
 Non-navigable water
 
 
 Dock, industrial or logistical area
 
 Water flow direction
 
 
 Panama Canal Railway (passenger station, freight station)
 
 City, village or town
 
Pacific Side entrance
 
Administration Building

While globally the Atlantic Ocean is east of the isthmus and the Pacific is west, the general direction of the canal passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific is from northwest to southeast, because of the shape of the isthmus at the point the canal occupies. The Bridge of the Americas (Spanish: Puente de las Américas) at the Pacific side is about a third of a degree east of the Colón end on the Atlantic side.[73] Still, in formal nautical communications, the simplified directions "southbound" and "northbound" are used.

The canal consists of artificial lakes, several improved and artificial channels, and three sets of locks. An additional artificial lake, Alajuela Lake (known during the American era as Madden Lake), acts as a reservoir for the canal. The layout of the canal as seen by a ship passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific is:[74]

  • From the formal marking line of the Atlantic Entrance, one enters Limón Bay (Bahía Limón), a large natural harbor. The entrance runs 8.9 km (5+1⁄2 mi). It provides a deepwater port (Cristóbal), with facilities like multimodal cargo exchange (to and from train) and the Colón Free Trade Zone (a free port).
  • A 3.2 km (2 mi) channel forms the approach to the locks from the Atlantic side.
  • The Gatun Locks, a three-stage flight of locks 2.0 km (1+1⁄4 mi) long, lifts ships to the Gatun Lake level, some 27 m (87 ft) above sea level.
  • Gatun Lake, an artificial lake formed by the building of the Gatun Dam, carries vessels 24 km (15 mi) across the isthmus. It is the summit canal stretch, fed by the Gatun River and emptied by basic lock operations.
  • From the lake, the Chagres River, a natural waterway enhanced by the damming of Gatun Lake, runs about 8.4 km (5+1⁄4 mi). Here the upper Chagres River feeds the high-level-canal stretch.
  • The Culebra Cut slices 12.5 km (7+3⁄4 mi) through the mountain ridge, crosses the continental divide and passes under the Centennial Bridge.
  • The single-stage Pedro Miguel Lock, which is 1.4 km (7⁄8 mi) long, is the first part of the descent with a lift of 9.4 m (31 ft).
  • The artificial Miraflores Lake 1.8 km (1+1⁄8 mi) long, and 16 m (54 ft) above sea level.
  • The two-stage Miraflores Locks is 1.8 km (1+1⁄8 mi) long, with a total descent of 16 m (54 ft) at mid-tide.
  • From the Miraflores Locks one reaches Balboa harbor, again with multimodal exchange provision (here the railway meets the shipping route again). Nearby is Panama City.
  • From this harbor an entrance/exit channel leads to the Pacific Ocean (Gulf of Panama), 13.3 km (8+1⁄4 mi) from the Miraflores Locks, passing under the Bridge of the Americas.

Thus, the total length of the canal is 80 km (50 mi).

Navigation

Point Coordinates
(links to map & photo sources)
Map this section's coordinates using: OpenStreetMap

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Notes
Atlantic Entrance 9°23′15″N 79°55′07″W / 9.38743°N 79.91863°W / 9.38743; -79.91863 (Atlantic Entrance)
Gatún Locks 9°16′20″N 79°55′22″W / 9.27215°N 79.92266°W / 9.27215; -79.92266 (Gatún Locks)
Trinidad Turn 9°12′36″N 79°55′27″W / 9.20996°N 79.92408°W / 9.20996; -79.92408 (Trinidad Turn) In "The Cut"
Bohío Turn 9°10′42″N 79°52′00″W / 9.17831°N 79.86667°W / 9.17831; -79.86667 (Bohío Turn) In "The Cut"
Orchid Turn 9°11′03″N 79°50′42″W / 9.18406°N 79.84513°W / 9.18406; -79.84513 (Orchid Turn) In "The Cut"
Frijoles Turn 9°09′33″N 79°48′49″W / 9.15904°N 79.81362°W / 9.15904; -79.81362 (Frijoles Turn) In "The Cut"
Barbacoa Turn 9°07′14″N 79°48′14″W / 9.12053°N 79.80395°W / 9.12053; -79.80395 (Barbacoa Turn) In "The Cut"
Mamei Turn 9°06′42″N 79°46′07″W / 9.11161°N 79.76856°W / 9.11161; -79.76856 (Mamei Turn) In "The Cut"
Gamboa Reach 9°07′04″N 79°43′21″W / 9.11774°N 79.72257°W / 9.11774; -79.72257 (Gamboa Reach)
Bas Obispo Reach 9°05′46″N 79°41′04″W / 9.09621°N 79.68446°W / 9.09621; -79.68446 (Bas Obispo Reach)
Las Cascadas Reach 9°04′36″N 79°40′30″W / 9.07675°N 79.67492°W / 9.07675; -79.67492 (Las Cascadas Reach)
Empire Reach 9°03′40″N 79°39′47″W / 9.06104°N 79.66309°W / 9.06104; -79.66309 (Empire Reach)
Culebra Reach 9°02′51″N 79°39′01″W / 9.04745°N 79.65017°W / 9.04745; -79.65017 (Culebra Reach)
Cucaracha Reach 9°02′01″N 79°38′14″W / 9.03371°N 79.63736°W / 9.03371; -79.63736 (Cucaracha Reach)
Paraiso Reach 9°01′33″N 79°37′30″W / 9.02573°N 79.62492°W / 9.02573; -79.62492 (Paraiso Reach)
Pedro Miguel Locks 9°01′01″N 79°36′46″W / 9.01698°N 79.61281°W / 9.01698; -79.61281 (Pedro Miguel Locks)
Miraflores Lake 9°00′27″N 79°36′09″W / 9.00741°N 79.60254°W / 9.00741; -79.60254 (Miraflores Lake)
Miraflores Locks 8°59′48″N 79°35′31″W / 8.99679°N 79.59182°W / 8.99679; -79.59182 (Miraflores Locks)
Balboa Reach 8°58′22″N 79°34′40″W / 8.97281°N 79.57771°W / 8.97281; -79.57771 (Balboa Reach)
Pacific Entrance 8°53′18″N 79°31′17″W / 8.88846°N 79.52145°W / 8.88846; -79.52145 (Pacific Entrance)

Gatun Lake

 
Gatun Lake provides the water used to raise and lower vessels in the Canal, gravity fed into each set of locks

Created in 1913 by damming the Chagres River, the Gatun Lake is a key part of the Panama Canal, providing the millions of liters of water necessary to operate its locks each time a ship passes through. At time of formation, Gatun Lake was the largest human-made lake in the world.

The largest island on Gatun Lake is Barro Colorado Island. It was established for scientific study when the lake was formed, and is operated by the Smithsonian Institution. Many important scientific and biological discoveries of the tropical animal and plant kingdom originated here. Gatun Lake covers about 470 km2 (180 sq mi), a vast tropical ecological zone and part of the Atlantic Forest Corridor. Ecotourism on the lake has become an industry for Panamanians.

Gatun Lake also provides drinking water for Panama City and Colón. Fishing is one of the primary recreational pursuits on Gatun Lake. Non-native peacock bass were introduced by accident to Gatun Lake around 1967[75] by a local businessman,[76] and have since flourished to become the dominant angling game fish in Gatun Lake. Locally called Sargento and believed to be the species Cichla pleiozona,[77] these peacock bass originate from the Amazon, Rio Negro, and Orinoco river basins, where they are considered a premier game fish.

Lock size

Main article: Panama Canal locks

Because of the importance of the canal to international trade, many ships are built to the maximum size allowed.

 
Miter lock gate at Gatún

For its first century, the width and length of ships that may transit the canal was limited by the Pedro Miguel Locks; their draft by the canal's minimum 12.6 m (41.2 ft) depth; and their height by the main span of the Bridge of the Americas at Balboa. Ships built to those limits are known as Panamax vessels. A Panamax cargo ship typically has a deadweight tonnage (DWT) of 65,000–80,000 tons, but its actual cargo is restricted to about 52,500 tons because of the canal's draft restrictions within the canal.[78] The longest ship ever to transit the canal was the San Juan Prospector (now Marcona Prospector), an ore-bulk-oil carrier that is 296.57 m (973 ft) long with a beam of 32.31 m (106 ft).[79]

Initially the locks at Gatun were designed to be 28.5 m (94 ft) wide. In 1908, the United States Navy requested that the width be increased to at least 36 m (118 ft) to allow the passage of large warships. A compromise was made and the locks were built 33.53 m (110.0 ft) wide. Each lock is 320 m (1,050 ft) long, with the walls ranging in thickness from 15 m (49 ft) at the base to 3 m (9.8 ft) at the top. The central wall between the parallel locks at Gatun is 18 m (59 ft) thick and over 24 m (79 ft) high. The steel lock gates measure an average of 2 m (6.6 ft) thick, 19.5 m (64 ft) wide, and 20 m (66 ft) high.[80]

Panama Canal pilots were initially unprepared to handle the flight decks of aircraft carriers, which protrude beyond the hull on either side of the ship. When USS Saratoga made her first trip through the Gatun Locks in 1928, the ship knocked over all the concrete lamp posts along the canal.[81]

In 2016, a decade-long expansion project created larger locks, allowing bigger ships to transit through deeper and wider channels. The allowed dimensions of ships using these locks increased by 25 percent in length, 51 percent in beam, and 26 percent in draft, as defined by New Panamax metrics.[82]

Tolls

 
Roll-on/roll-off ships, such as this one at Miraflores locks, are among the largest ships to pass through the canal.

As with a toll road, vessels transiting the canal must pay tolls. Tolls for the canal are set by the Panama Canal Authority and are based on vessel type, size, and the type of cargo.[83]

For container ships, the toll is assessed on the ship's capacity expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), one TEU being the size of a standard intermodal shipping container. Effective April 1, 2016, this toll went from US$74 per loaded container to $60 per TEU capacity plus $30 per loaded container for a potential $90 per TEU when the ship is full. A Panamax container ship may carry up to 4,400 TEU. The toll is calculated differently for passenger ships and for container ships carrying no cargo ("in ballast"). As of April 1, 2016, the ballast rate is US$60, down from US$65.60 per TEU.

Passenger vessels in excess of 30,000 tons (PC/UMS) pay a rate based on the number of berths, that is, the number of passengers that can be accommodated in permanent beds. The per-berth charge since April 1, 2016 is $111 for unoccupied berths and $138 for occupied berths in the Panamax locks. Started in 2007, this fee has greatly increased the tolls for such ships.[84] Passenger vessels of less than 30,000 tons or less than 33 tons per passenger are charged according to the same per-ton schedule as are freighters. Almost all major cruise ships have more than 33 tons per passenger; the rule of thumb for cruise line comfort is generally given as a minimum of 40 tons per passenger.

Most other types of vessel pay a toll per PC/UMS net ton, in which one "ton" is actually a volume of 100 cubic feet (2.83 m3). (The calculation of tonnage for commercial vessels is quite complex.) As of fiscal year 2016, this toll is US$5.25 per ton for the first 10,000 tons, US$5.14 per ton for the next 10,000 tons, and US$5.06 per ton thereafter. As with container ships, reduced tolls are charged for freight ships "in ballast", $4.19, $4.12, $4.05 respectively.

On 1 April 2016, a more complicated toll system was introduced, having the neopanamax locks at a higher rate in some cases, natural gas transport as a new separate category and other changes.[85] As of October 1, 2017, there are modified tolls and categories of tolls in effect.[86] Small (less than 125 ft) vessels up to 583 PC/UMS net tons when carrying passengers or cargo, or up to 735 PC/UMS net tons when in ballast, or up to 1,048 fully loaded displacement tons, are assessed minimum tolls based upon their length overall, according to the following table (as of 29 April 2015):

Length of vessel Toll
Up to 15.240 meters (50 ft) US$800
From 15.240 to 24.384 meters (50 to 80 ft) US$1,300
From 24.384 to 30.480 meters (80 to 100 ft) US$2,000
More than 30.480 meters (100 ft) US$3,200
INTRA MARITIME CLUSTER – Local Tourism
More than 24.384 meters (80 ft)		 US$2,000
plus $72/TEU

Morgan Adams of Los Angeles, California, holds the distinction of paying the first toll received by the U.S. government for the use of the Panama Canal by a pleasure boat. His boat Lasata passed through the Zone on August 14, 1914. The crossing occurred during a 10,000-kilometer (6,000-mile) sea voyage from Jacksonville, Florida, to Los Angeles in 1914.[citation needed]

The most expensive regular toll for canal passage to date was charged on April 14, 2010, to the cruise ship Norwegian Pearl, which paid US$375,600.[87][88] The average toll is around US$54,000. The highest fee for priority passage charged through the Transit Slot Auction System was US$220,300, paid on August 24, 2006, by the Panamax tanker Erikoussa,[89] bypassing a 90-ship queue waiting for the end of maintenance work on the Gatun Locks, and thus avoiding a seven-day delay. The normal fee would have been just US$13,430.[90]

The lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents (equivalent to $6.14 in 2022), by American Richard Halliburton who swam the Panama Canal in 1928.[91]

Issues leading to expansion

 
Panorama of Pacific entrance of the canal. Left: Pacific Ocean and Puente de las Americas (Bridge of Pan-American Highway); far right: Miraflores locks.

Efficiency and maintenance

Opponents to the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties feared that efficiency and maintenance would suffer following the U.S. withdrawal from the Panama Canal Zone; however, this has been proven not to be the case. In 2004, it was reported that canal operations, capitalizing on practices developed during the American administration, were improving under Panamanian control.[92] Canal Waters Time (CWT), the average time it takes a vessel to navigate the canal, including waiting time, is a key measure of efficiency; in the first decade of the 2000s, it ranged between 20 and 30 hours, according to the ACP. The accident rate has also not changed appreciably in the past decade, varying between 10 and 30 accidents each year from about 14,000 total annual transits.[93][94][95] An official accident is one in which a formal investigation is requested and conducted.

Increasing volumes of imports from Asia, which previously landed on US West Coast ports, are now passing through the canal to the American East Coast.[96] The total number of ocean-going transits increased from 11,725 in 2003 to 13,233 in 2007, falling to 12,855 in 2009. (The canal's fiscal year runs from October through September.)[97] This has been coupled with a steady rise in average ship size and in the numbers of Panamax vessels passing through the canal, so that the total tonnage carried rose from 227.9 million PC/UMS tons in fiscal year 1999 to a then record high of 312.9 million tons in 2007, and falling to 299.1 million tons in 2009.[73][97] Tonnage for fiscal 2013, 2014 and 2015 was 320.6, 326.8 and 340.8 million PC/UMS tons carried on 13,660, 13,481 and 13,874 transits respectively.[98]

In the first decade after the transfer to Panamanian control, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) invested nearly US$1 billion in widening and modernizing the canal, with the aim of increasing capacity by 20 percent.[99] The ACP cites a number of major improvements, including the widening and straightening of the Culebra Cut to reduce restrictions on passing vessels, the deepening of the navigational channel in Gatun Lake to reduce draft restrictions and improve water supply, and the deepening of the Atlantic and Pacific entrances to the canal. This is supported by new equipment, such as a new drill barge and suction dredger, and an increase of the tug boat fleet by 20 percent. In addition, improvements have been made to the canal's operating machinery, including an increased and improved tug locomotive fleet, the replacement of more than 16 km (10 mi) of locomotive track, and new lock machinery controls. Improvements have been made to the traffic management system to allow more efficient control over ships in the canal.[100]

In December 2010, record-breaking rains caused a 17-hour closure of the canal; this was the first closure since the United States invasion of Panama in 1989.[101][102] The rains also caused an access road to the Centenario Bridge to collapse.[103][104][105][106]

Capacity

The canal handles more vessel traffic than had ever been envisioned by its builders. In 1934 it was estimated that the maximum capacity of the canal would be around 80 million tons per year;[107] as noted above, canal traffic in 2015 reached 340.8 million tons of shipping.

To improve capacity, a number of improvements have been made to maximize the use of the locking system:[108]

  • Implementation of an enhanced locks lighting system;
  • Construction of two tie-up stations in Culebra Cut;
  • Widening Culebra Cut from 192 to 218 meters (630 to 715 ft);
  • Improvements to the tugboat fleet;
  • Implementation of the carousel lockage system in Gatun locks;
  • Development of an improved vessel scheduling system;
  • Deepening of Gatun Lake navigational channels from 10.4 to 11.3 meters (34 to 37 ft) PLD;
  • Modification of all locks structures to allow an additional draft of about 0.30 meters (1 ft);
  • Deepening of the Pacific and Atlantic entrances;
  • Construction of a new spillway in Gatun, for flood control.

These improvements enlarged the capacity from 300 million PCUMS (2008) to 340 PCUMS (2012). These improvements were started before the new locks project, and are complementary to it.

Competition

 
Maximum ship sizes for the Panama and Suez canals[109]

The canal faces increasing competition from other quarters. Because canal tolls have risen as ships have become larger, some critics[110] have suggested that the Suez Canal is now a viable alternative for cargo en route from Asia to the US East Coast.[111] The Panama Canal, however, continues to serve more than 144 of the world's trade routes and the majority of canal traffic comes from the "all-water route" from Asia to the US East and Gulf Coasts.[citation needed]

An alternative route through Nicaragua and Lake Nicaragua has been proposed. On June 15, 2013, Nicaragua awarded the Hong Kong-based HKND Group a 50-year concession to develop a canal through the country.[112] In February 2018, analysts widely viewed the project as defunct, [113][114][115] though the head of the project insisted work was on-going. In April 2018 HKND Group closed its offices, leaving no forwarding address or telephone numbers to be reached.[116]

The increasing rate of melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean has led to speculation that the Northwest Passage or Arctic Bridge may become viable for commercial shipping. This route would save 9,300 km (5,800 mi) on the route from Asia to Europe compared with the Panama Canal, possibly leading to a diversion of some traffic to that route. However, such a route is beset by unresolved territorial issues and would still hold significant problems owing to ice.[117]

Water issues

 
Gatun locks showing the "mule" locomotives at work
 
Mule in the Miraflores Locks

Gatun Lake is filled with rainwater, and the lake accumulates excess water during wet months. The water is lost to the oceans at a rate of 101,000 m3 (26.7 million US gal; 81.9 acre⋅ft) per downward lock cycle. Since a ship will have to go upward to Gatun Lake first and then descend, a single passing will cost double the amount; but the same waterflow cycle can be used for another ship passing in the opposite direction. The ship's submerged volume is not relevant to this amount of water.[118][119] During the dry season, when there is less rainfall, there is also a shortage of water in Gatun Lake.[120]

As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the ACP has developed an environmentally and socially sustainable program for expansion, which protects the aquatic and terrestrial resources of the canal watershed. The expansion guarantees the availability and quality of water resources by using water-saving basins at each new lock. These water-saving basins diminish water loss and preserve freshwater resources along the waterway by reusing water from the basins into the locks. Each lock chamber has three water-saving basins, which reuse 60 percent of the water in each transit. There are a total of nine basins for each of the two lock complexes, and a total of 18 basins for the entire project.[121]

The mean sea level at the Pacific side is about 20 cm (8 in) higher than that of the Atlantic side due to differences in ocean conditions such as water density and weather.[122]

Third set of locks project (expansion)

Main article: Panama Canal expansion project
 
New Panama Canal expansion project. July 2015

As demand is rising for efficient global shipping of goods, the canal is positioned to be a significant feature of world shipping for the foreseeable future. However, changes in shipping patterns—particularly the increasing numbers of larger-than-Panamax ships—necessitated changes to the canal for it to retain a significant market share. In 2006 it was anticipated that by 2011, 37 percent of the world's container ships would be too large for the present canal, and hence a failure to expand would result in a significant loss of market share. The maximum sustainable capacity of the original canal, given some relatively minor improvement work, was estimated at 340 million PC/UMS tons per year; it was anticipated that this capacity would be reached between 2009 and 2012. Close to 50 percent of transiting vessels were already using the full width of the locks.[123]

An enlargement scheme to allow for a greater number of transits and the ability to handle larger ships, similar to the Third Lock Scheme of 1939, had been under consideration for some time,[124] and by 2006 Panama's government canal authority was recommending such a plan.[125][126] The expansion proposal, with a cost estimate of US$5.25 billion, was expected to double the canal's shipping capacity by allowing both the passage of longer and wider Post-Panamax ships and an increase in overall traffic. This proposal was approved in a national referendum by about 80 percent on October 22, 2006.[127] The canal expansion was built between 2007 and 2016.[1]

 
New Agua Clara locks (Atlantic side) in operation

The expansion plan had two new flights of locks built parallel to, and operated in addition to, the old locks: one east of the existing Gatun locks, and one southwest of the Miraflores locks, each supported by approach channels. Each flight ascends from sea level directly to the level of Gatun Lake; the existing two-stage ascent at Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks was not replicated. The new lock chambers feature sliding gates, doubled for safety, and are 427 m (1,400 ft) long, 55 m (180 ft) wide, and 18.3 m (60 ft) deep. This allows the transit of vessels with a beam of up to 49 m (160 ft), an overall length of up to 366 m (1,200 ft) and a draft of up to 15 m (49 ft), equivalent to a container ship carrying around 12,000 containers, each 6.1 m (20 ft) in length (TEU).

The new locks are supported by new approach channels, including a 6.2 km (3.9 mi) channel at Miraflores from the locks to the Gaillard Cut, skirting Miraflores Lake. Each of these channels are 218 m (720 ft) wide, which will require post-Panamax vessels to navigate the channels in one direction at a time. The Gaillard Cut and the channel through Gatun Lake were widened to at least 280 m (920 ft) on the straight portions and at least 366 m (1,200 ft) on the bends. The maximum level of Gatun Lake was raised from 26.7 m (88 ft) to 27.1 m (89 ft).

Each flight of locks is accompanied by nine water reuse basins (three per lock chamber), each basin being about 70 m (230 ft) wide, 430 m (1,400 ft) long and 5.50 m (18 ft) deep. These gravity-fed basins allow 60 percent of the water used in each transit to be reused; the new locks consequently use 7 percent less water per transit than each of the existing lock lanes. The deepening of Gatun Lake and the raising of its maximum water level also provide capacity for significantly more water storage. These measures are intended to allow the expanded canal to operate without constructing new reservoirs.

The estimated cost of the project is US$5.25 billion. The project was designed to allow for an anticipated growth in traffic from 280 million PC/UMS tons in 2005 to nearly 510 million PC/UMS tons in 2025. The expanded canal will have a maximum sustainable capacity of about 600 million PC/UMS tons per year. Tolls will continue to be calculated based on vessel tonnage, and in some cases depend on the locks used.

An article in the February 2007 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine described the engineering aspects of the expansion project.[128] There is also a follow-up article in the February 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics.[129]

On September 3, 2007, thousands of Panamanians stood across from Paraíso Hill in Panama to witness a huge initial explosion and launch of the Expansion Program. The first phase of the project was the dry excavations of the 218 meters (715 feet) wide trench connecting the Gaillard Cut with the Pacific coast, removing 47 million cubic meters of earth and rock.[130] By June 2012, a 30 m reinforced concrete monolith had been completed, the first of 46 such monoliths which will line the new Pacific-side lock walls.[131] By early July 2012, however, it was announced that the canal expansion project had fallen six months behind schedule, leading expectations for the expansion to open in April 2015 rather than October 2014, as originally planned.[132] By September 2014, the new gates were projected to be open for transit at the "beginning of 2016".[133][134][135][136]

 
Neopanamax ship passing through the Agua Clara locks.

It was announced in July 2009 that the Belgian dredging company Jan De Nul, together with a consortium of contractors consisting of the Spanish Sacyr Vallehermoso, the Italian Impregilo, and the Panamanian company Grupo Cusa, had been awarded the contract to build the six new locks for US$3.1 billion, which was one billion less than the next highest competing bid due to having a concrete budget 71 percent smaller than that of the next bidder and allotted roughly 25 percent less for steel to reinforce that concrete. The contract resulted in $100 million in dredging works over the next few years for the Belgian company and a great deal of work for its construction division. The design of the locks is a carbon copy of the Berendrecht Lock, which is 68 m wide and 500 m long, making it the second largest lock in the world after the Kieldrecht lock in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. Completed in 1989 by the Port of Antwerp, which De Nul helped build, the company still has engineers and specialists who were part of that project.[137]

In January 2014, a contract dispute threatened the progress of the project.[138][139] There was a delay of less than two months however, with work by the consortium members reaching goals by June 2014.[140][141]

In June 2015, flooding of the new locks began: first on the Atlantic side, then on the Pacific; by then, the canal's re-inauguration was slated for April 2016.[142][143][144] On March 23, 2016, the expansion inauguration was set for June 26, 2016.[145]

The new locks opened for commercial traffic on 26 June 2016, and the first ship to cross the canal using the third set of locks was a modern New Panamax vessel, the Chinese-owned container ship Cosco Shipping Panama.[1] The original locks, now over 100 years old, allow engineers greater access for maintenance, and are projected to continue operating indefinitely.[123] After the construction of the new locks, in addition to the already existing ones, to date the ship with the largest dimensions transiting the "Panama Canal new sideway", had the following dimensions: 366.47 meters in length, 48.23 meters in width and 15 meters draft.[citation needed]

The total cost is unknown since the expansion's contractors are seeking at least an additional US$3.4 billion from the canal authority due to excess expenses.[146]

Routes competing with the canal

Nicaragua canal

Main article: Nicaragua Canal

On July 7, 2014, Wang Jing, chairman of the HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd. (HKND Group) advised that a route for Nicaragua's proposed canal had been approved. The construction work was projected by HKND to begin in 2014 and take 5 years,[147] although there had been little progress before the project's abandonment.[148] The Nicaraguan parliament approved plans for the 280 km (174 mi) canal through Nicaragua and according to the deal, the company would have been responsible for operating and maintaining the canal for a 50-year period. By May 2017, no concrete action had been reportedly taken constructing the canal and further doubts were expressed about its financing.[149] In February 2018, analysts widely viewed the project as defunct, though the head of the project insisted work was on-going and HKND retained the legal rights to the concession for the canal as well as side projects. Despite HKND vanishing in April 2018,[150] the Nicaraguan government indicates that it will continue with the 908 km2 (351 sq mi) dry land expropriations within Nicaragua, under land expropriation Canal Law 840.

Colombia rail link

In 2011, Colombia's then-president Juan Manuel Santos announced a proposal for a 220 km (137 mi) railway between Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts.[151][152] However, in 2015 the director of the Colombia-China Chamber of Commerce said the proposal "was mentioned in 2011 and subsequently had minimal relevance".[153]

Northwest Passage

Main article: Northwest Passage

Climate change has thinned much of the ice that in the past made this route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans impassable. Satellite navigation can help monitor location of the ice which remains, further easing transit. A few ships have successfully crossed the previously impossible route since 2000.[154]

Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

Since 2019, Mexico has been building a "canal" of its own, known as the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT, by its initials in Spanish), which will use primarily a railway to transport cargo and passengers from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.[155] It is expected to start operating at full capacity on December 2023.[156] This idea is older than the Panama Canal itself, with the original Tehuantepec Railway, which is being rehabilitated for the CIIT, being inaugurated in 1907 to initial success, but falling out of use due to the Mexican Revolution and the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. The current Corridor is expected to have certain advantages over the Panama Canal, such as its speed, being able to transport cargo from one ocean to the other in about six hours,[157] and its location, being closer to the United States than Panama, in addition to the creation of ten industrial parks in the Isthmus with various tax benefits to encourage private investment.[158] However, despite being often described as a potential alternative/competitor to the Panama Canal, the ambassador of Panama in Mexico, Alfredo Oranges, and the former director of the CIIT, Rafael Marín Mollinedo, have stated that they do not see the CIIT in this way, and that they prefer to see it as a "complement" to the Panama Canal, which could relieve the intense traffic the Canal has to cope with. The ambassador even proposed collaborating with the Mexican government to make the Corridor more efficient.[159][160]

Other projects

 
Wood engraving illustrating the plan for an "Interoceanic Ship Railway" in Central America between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, proposed by James B. Eads in the late 19th century. It was never built, and the Panama Canal was built instead.

Individuals, companies, and governments have explored the possibility of constructing deep water ports and rail links connecting coasts as a "dry canal" in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador/Honduras. However, plans to construct these sea-rail-sea links have yet to materialize.[161] Another option could have been the Ferrocarril Transístmico in Mexico if implemented for ships.

Master Key to Panama Canal and Honorary Pilots

During the last one hundred years, the Panama Canal Authority has granted membership in the "Esteemed Order of Bearers of the Master Key of the Panama Canal" and appointed a few "Honorary Lead Pilots" to employees, captains and dignitaries.[162] One of the most recent of these were U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner, Louis Sola, who was awarded for his work for supporting seafarers during the COVID-19 pandemic and previously transiting the canal more than 100 times.[163] Another recent award was to Commodore Ronald Warwick,[164] a former Master of the Cunard Liners Queen Elizabeth 2 and RMS Queen Mary 2, who has traversed the Canal more than 50 times, and Senior Captain Raffaele Minotauro, an Unlimited Oceangoing Shipmaster Senior Grade, of the former Italian governmental navigation company known as the "Italian Line".[165]

See also

References

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August 20, 2023
panama, canal, spanish, canal, panamá, artificial, waterway, panama, that, connects, atlantic, ocean, with, pacific, ocean, divides, north, south, america, canal, cuts, across, isthmus, panama, conduit, maritime, trade, largest, most, difficult, engineering, p. The Panama Canal Spanish Canal de Panama is an artificial 82 km 51 mi waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans enabling them to avoid the lengthy hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan Panama CanalCanal de PanamaA schematic of the Panama Canal illustrating the sequence of locks and passagesSpecificationsLength82 km 51 miles Maximum boat length366 m 1 200 ft 9 in Maximum boat beam49 m 160 ft 9 in originally 28 5 m or 93 ft 6 in Maximum boat draft15 2 m 50 ft Maximum boat air draft57 91 m 190 0 ft Locks3 locks up 3 down per transit all three lanes 3 lanes of locks StatusOpen expansion opened June 26 2016Navigation authorityPanama Canal AuthorityHistoryOriginal ownerSociete internationale du CanalPrincipal engineerFerdinand de Lesseps John Findley Wallace 1904 1905 John Frank Stevens 1905 1907 George Washington Goethals 1907 1914 Construction beganMay 4 1904 119 years ago 1904 05 04 Date completedAugust 15 1914 109 years ago 1914 08 15 Date extendedJune 26 2016 7 years ago 2016 06 26 GeographyStart pointAtlantic OceanEnd pointPacific OceanConnects toPacific Ocean from Atlantic Ocean and vice versaLocation of Panama between the Pacific Ocean bottom and the Caribbean Sea top with the canal at top centerColombia France and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction France began work on the canal in 1881 but stopped because of lack of investors confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal in 1914 The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos Carter Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977 After a period of joint American Panamanian control the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government in 1999 It is now managed and operated by the government owned Panama Canal Authority Canal locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake an artificial lake 26 meters 85 ft above sea level created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal and then lower the ships at the other end The original locks are 33 5 meters 110 ft wide A third wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016 The expanded waterway began commercial operation on June 26 2016 The new locks allow transit of larger New Panamax ships 1 Annual traffic has risen from about 1 000 ships in 1914 when the canal opened to 14 702 vessels in 2008 for a total of 333 7 million Panama Canal Universal Measurement System PC UMS tons By 2012 more than 815 000 vessels had passed through the canal 2 In 2017 it took ships an average of 11 38 hours to pass between the canal s two locks 3 The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World 4 Contents 1 History 1 1 Early proposals in Panama 1 2 French construction attempts 1881 1899 1 3 United States acquisition 1 4 United States construction of the Panama canal 1904 1914 1 5 Goethals replaces Stevens as chief engineer 1 6 Later developments 2 Canal 2 1 Layout 2 2 Navigation 2 3 Gatun Lake 2 4 Lock size 2 5 Tolls 3 Issues leading to expansion 3 1 Efficiency and maintenance 3 2 Capacity 3 3 Competition 3 4 Water issues 4 Third set of locks project expansion 5 Routes competing with the canal 5 1 Nicaragua canal 5 2 Colombia rail link 5 3 Northwest Passage 5 4 Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec 5 5 Other projects 6 Master Key to Panama Canal and Honorary Pilots 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 9 1 Construction and technical issues 9 2 Diplomatic and political history 10 External linksHistory EditMain article History of the Panama Canal Early proposals in Panama Edit Satellite image showing the location of the Panama Canal dense jungles are visible in green topped by clouds The earliest record regarding a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was in 1534 when Charles V Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain ordered a survey for a route through the Americas in order to ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru The Spanish were seeking to gain a military advantage over the Portuguese 5 In 1668 the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne speculated in his encyclopedic work Pseudodoxia Epidemica that some Isthmus have been eaten through by the Sea and others cut by the spade And if the policy would permit that of Panama in America were most worthy the attempt it being but few miles over and would open a shorter cut unto the East Indies and China 6 Given the strategic location of Panama and the potential of its narrow isthmus separating two great oceans other trade links in the area were attempted over the years One early example of this was ill fated Darien scheme launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up an overland trade route Generally inhospitable conditions thwarted the effort and it was abandoned in April 1700 7 In 1788 Americans suggested that the Spanish should build the canal since they controlled the colonies where it would be built They said that this would be a less treacherous route for ships than going around the southern tip of South America and that tropical ocean currents would naturally widen the canal after construction 8 During an expedition from 1788 to 1793 Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for construction of a canal 9 Numerous canals were built in other countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries The success of the Erie Canal through central New York in the United States in the 1820s and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America resulted in growing American interest in building an inter oceanic canal Beginning in 1826 US officials began negotiations with Gran Colombia present day Colombia Venezuela Ecuador and Panama hoping to gain a concession to build a canal Jealous of their newly gained independence and fearing domination by the more powerful United States president Simon Bolivar and New Granada officials declined American offers After the collapse of Gran Colombia New Granada remained unstable under constant government intrigue citation needed Great Britain attempted to develop a canal in 1843 According to the New York Daily Tribune August 24 1843 Barings Bank of London and the Republic of New Granada entered into a contract for the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien Isthmus of Panama They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal and it was a wholly British endeavor Projected for completion in five years the plan was never carried out At nearly the same time other ideas were floated including a canal and or a railroad across Mexico s Isthmus of Tehuantepec That did not develop either 10 In 1846 the Mallarino Bidlack Treaty negotiated between the US and New Granada granted the United States transit rights and the right to intervene militarily in the isthmus In 1848 the discovery of gold in California on the West Coast of the United States generated renewed interest in a canal crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans William Henry Aspinwall who had won the federal subsidy to build and operate the Pacific mail steamships at around the same time benefited from the gold discovery Aspinwall s route included steamship legs from New York City to Panama and from Panama to California with an overland portage through Panama This route with an overland leg in Panama was soon frequently traveled as it provided one of the fastest connections between San Francisco California and the East Coast cities about 40 days transit in total Nearly all the gold that was shipped out of California went by the fast Panama route Several new and larger paddle steamers were soon plying this new route including private steamship lines owned by American entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt that made use of an overland route through Nicaragua and the unfortunate SS Central America 11 page needed In 1850 the United States began construction of the Panama Railroad now called the Panama Railway to cross the isthmus it opened in 1855 This overland link became a vital piece of Western Hemisphere infrastructure greatly facilitating trade The later canal route was constructed parallel to it as it had helped clear dense forests citation needed An all water route between the oceans was still the goal In 1855 William Kennish a Manx born engineer working for the United States government surveyed the isthmus and issued a report on a route for a proposed Panama Canal 12 His report was published as a book entitled The Practicability and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans 13 page needed In 1876 Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse and his chief assistant Armand Reclus both officers and engineers of the French Navy explored several routes in the Darien Atrato regions and made proposals including the construction of tunnels and locks 14 page needed A second Isthmian exploratory visit began on December 6 1877 where two routes were explored in Panama the San Blas route and a route from Limon Bay to Panama City the current Canal route The French had achieved success in building the Suez Canal in the Middle East While it was a lengthy project they were encouraged to plan for a canal to cross the Panamanian isthmus 15 Wyse went to Bogota and on March 20 1878 signed a treaty in the name of the Societe Civile Internationale du Canal Interoceanique par l isthme du Darien headed by general Etienne Turr with the Colombian government known as the Wyse concession to build an interoceanic canal through Panama French construction attempts 1881 1899 Edit Ferdinand de Lesseps the French originator of the Suez Canal and the Panama CanalThe first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia s province of Panama began on January 1 1881 The project was inspired by the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps who was able to raise considerable funds in France as a result of the huge profits generated by his successful construction of the Suez Canal 16 Although the Panama Canal needed to be only 40 percent as long as the Suez Canal it was much more of an engineering challenge because of the combination of tropical rain forests debilitating climate the need for canal locks and the lack of any ancient route to follow Lesseps wanted a sea level canal like the Suez but he visited the site only a few times during the dry season which lasts only four months of the year 17 His men were totally unprepared for the rainy season during which the Chagres River where the canal started became a raging torrent rising up to 10 m 33 ft The dense jungle was alive with venomous snakes insects and spiders but the worst challenges were yellow fever malaria and other tropical diseases which killed thousands of workers by 1884 the death rate was over 200 per month 18 Public health measures were ineffective because the role of the mosquito as a disease vector was then unknown Conditions were downplayed in France to avoid recruitment problems 19 but the high mortality rate made it difficult to maintain an experienced workforce Excavator at work in Bas Obispo 1886 Share of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique de Panama issued 29 November 1880 signed by Ferdinand de LessepsWorkers had to continually widen the main cut through the mountain at Culebra and reduce the angles of the slopes to minimize landslides into the canal 20 Steam shovels were used in the construction of the canal purchased from Bay City Industrial Works a business owned by William L Clements in Bay City Michigan 21 Bucket chain excavators manufactured by both Alphonse Couvreux and Wehyer amp Richemond and Buette were also used 22 Other mechanical and electrical equipment was limited in capabilities and steel equipment rusted rapidly in the rainy climate 23 In France Lesseps kept the investment and supply of workers flowing long after it was obvious that the targets were not being met but eventually the money ran out The French effort went bankrupt in 1889 after reportedly spending US 287 000 000 an estimated 22 000 men died from disease and accidents and the savings of 800 000 investors were lost 19 24 Work was suspended on May 15 and in the ensuing scandal known as the Panama affair some of those deemed responsible were prosecuted including Gustave Eiffel 25 Lesseps and his son Charles were found guilty of misappropriation of funds and sentenced to five years imprisonment This sentence was later overturned and the father at age 88 was never imprisoned 19 In 1894 a second French company the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama was created to take over the project A minimal workforce of a few thousand people was employed primarily to comply with the terms of the Colombian Panama Canal concession to run the Panama Railroad and to maintain the existing excavation and equipment in salable condition The company sought a buyer for these assets with an asking price of US 109 000 000 In the meantime they continued with enough activity to maintain their franchise Phillipe Bunau Varilla the French manager of the New Panama Canal Company eventually managed to persuade Lesseps that a lock and lake canal was more realistic than a sea level canal 26 The Comite Technique a high level technical committee was formed by the Compagnie Nouvelle to review the studies and work that already finished and that still ongoing and come up with the best plan for completing the canal The committee arrived on the Isthmus in February 1896 and went immediately quietly and efficiently about their work of devising the best possible canal plan which they presented on November 16 1898 Many aspects of the plan were similar in principle to the canal that was finally built by the Americans in 1914 27 It was a lock canal with two high level lakes to lift ships up and over the Continental Divide Double locks would be 738 feet long and about 30 feet deep 225 m 9 m one chamber of each pair would be 82 feet 25 m wide the other 59 ft 18 m There would be eight sets of locks two at Bohio Soldado and two at Obispo on the Atlantic side one at Paraiso two at Pedro Miguel and one at Miraflores on the Pacific Artificial lakes would be formed by damming the Chagres River at Bohio and Alhajuela providing both flood control and electric power United States acquisition Edit The US s intentions to influence the area especially the Panama Canal construction and control led to the separation of Panama from Colombia in 1903 The Culebra Cut in 1896 The Culebra Cut in 1902At this time the President and the Senate of the United States were interested in establishing a canal across the isthmus with some favoring a canal across Nicaragua and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama Bunau Varilla who was seeking American involvement asked for 100 million but accepted 40 million in the face of the Nicaraguan option In June 1902 the US Senate voted in favor of the Spooner Act to pursue the Panamanian option provided the necessary rights could be obtained 28 On January 22 1903 the Hay Herran Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M Hay and Colombian Charge Dr Tomas Herran For 10 million and an annual payment it would have granted the United States a renewable lease in perpetuity from Colombia on the land proposed for the canal 29 The treaty was ratified by the US Senate on March 14 1903 but the Senate of Colombia did not ratify it Bunau Varilla told President Theodore Roosevelt and Hay of a possible revolt by Panamanian rebels who aimed to separate from Colombia and hoped that the United States would support the rebels with US troops and money citation needed Roosevelt changed tactics based in part on the Mallarino Bidlack Treaty of 1846 and actively supported the separation of Panama from Colombia Shortly after recognizing Panama he signed a treaty with the new Panamanian government under terms similar to the Hay Herran Treaty 30 On November 2 1903 US warships blocked sea lanes against possible Colombian troop movements en route to put down the Panama rebellion Panama declared independence on November 3 1903 The United States quickly recognized the new nation 31 This happened so quickly that by the time the Colombian government in Bogota launched a response to the Panamanian uprising US troops had already entered the rebelling province The Colombian troops dispatched to Panama were hastily assembled conscripts with little training While these conscripts may have been able to defeat the Panamanian rebels they would not have been able to defeat the US army troops that were supporting the Panamanian rebels The reason an army of conscripts was sent was that it was the best response the Colombians could muster as Colombia still was recovering from a civil war between Liberals and Conservatives from October 1899 to November 1902 known as the Thousand Days War With the US being fully aware of these conditions and even incorporating them into the planning of the Panama intervention as the US acted as an arbitrator between the two sides with the peace treaty that ended the Thousand Days War being signed on the USS Wisconsin on November 21 1902 While in port the US also brought engineering teams to Panama with the peace delegation to begin planning for the canal s construction before the US had even gained the rights to build the canal All these factors would result in the Colombians being unable to put down the Panamanian rebellion and expel the United States troops occupying what today is the independent nation of Panama 32 On November 6 1903 Philippe Bunau Varilla as Panama s ambassador to the United States signed the Hay Bunau Varilla Treaty granting rights to the United States to build and indefinitely administer the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses This is sometimes misinterpreted as the 99 year lease because of misleading wording included in article 22 of the agreement 33 Almost immediately the treaty was condemned by many Panamanians as an infringement on their country s new national sovereignty 34 35 This would later become a contentious diplomatic issue among Colombia Panama and the United States President Roosevelt famously stated I took the Isthmus started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal but to debate me Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia The New York Times described the support given by the United States to Bunau Varilla as an act of sordid conquest citation needed The New York Evening Post called it a vulgar and mercenary venture citation needed The US maneuvers are often cited as the classic example of US gunboat diplomacy in Latin America and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage Speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far After the revolution in 1903 the Republic of Panama became a US protectorate until 1939 36 In 1904 the United States purchased the French equipment and excavations including the Panama Railroad for US 40 million of which 30 million related to excavations completed primarily in the Culebra Cut valued at about 1 00 per cubic yard 37 The United States also paid the new country of Panama 10 million and a 250 000 payment each following year In 1921 Colombia and the United States entered into the Thomson Urrutia Treaty in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia 25 million 5 million upon ratification and four 5 million annual payments and grant Colombia special privileges in the Canal Zone In return Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation 38 United States construction of the Panama canal 1904 1914 Edit Chief engineer John Frank Stevens Sanitation officer William C GorgasThe US formally took control of the canal property on May 4 1904 inheriting from the French a depleted workforce and a vast jumble of buildings infrastructure and equipment much of it in poor condition A US government commission the Isthmian Canal Commission ICC was established to oversee construction it was given control of the Panama Canal Zone over which the United States exercised sovereignty 39 The commission reported directly to Secretary of War William Howard Taft and was directed to avoid the inefficiency and corruption that had plagued the French 15 years earlier On May 6 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed John Findley Wallace formerly chief engineer and finally general manager of the Illinois Central Railroad as chief engineer of the Panama Canal Project Overwhelmed by the disease plagued country and forced to use often dilapidated French infrastructure and equipment 40 as well as being frustrated by the overly bureaucratic ICC Wallace resigned abruptly in June 1905 41 The ICC brought on a new chairman Theodore P Shonts and a new chief engineer was appointed John Frank Stevens a self educated engineer who had built the Great Northern Railroad 42 Stevens was not a member of the ICC he increasingly viewed its bureaucracy as a serious hindrance bypassing the commission and sending requests and demands directly to the Roosevelt administration in Washington DC One of Stevens first achievements in Panama was in building and rebuilding the housing cafeterias hotels water systems repair shops warehouses and other infrastructure needed by the thousands of incoming workers Stevens began the recruitment effort to entice thousands of workers from the United States and other areas to come to the Canal Zone to work Workers from the Caribbean called Afro Panamanians came in large numbers and many settled permanently Stevens tried to provide accommodation in which the workers could work and live in reasonable safety and comfort He also re established and enlarged the railway which was to prove crucial in transporting millions of tons of soil from the cut through the mountains to the dam across the Chagres River President Theodore Roosevelt sitting on a Bucyrus steam shovel at Culebra Cut 1906 Construction work on the Gaillard Cut is shown in this photograph from 1907 Colonel William C Gorgas had been appointed chief sanitation officer of the canal construction project in 1904 Gorgas implemented a range of measures to minimize the spread of deadly diseases particularly yellow fever and malaria which had recently been shown to be mosquito borne following the work of Cuban epidemiologist Dr Carlos Finlay and American pathologist Dr Walter Reed 43 Investment was made in extensive sanitation projects including city water systems fumigation of buildings spraying of insect breeding areas with oil and larvicide installation of mosquito netting and window screens and elimination of stagnant water Despite opposition from the commission one member said his ideas were barmy Gorgas persisted and when Stevens arrived he threw his weight behind the project After two years of extensive work the mosquito spread diseases were nearly eliminated 44 Even after all that effort about 5 600 workers died of disease and accidents during the US construction phase of the canal In 1905 a US engineering panel was commissioned to review the canal design which had not been finalized In January 1906 the panel in a majority of eight to five recommended to President Roosevelt a sea level canal 45 as had been attempted by the French and temporarily abandoned by them in 1887 for a ten locks system designed by Philippe Bunau Varilla and definitively in 1898 for a lock and lake canal designed by the Comite Technique of the Compagnie Nouvelle de Canal de Panama as conceptualized by Adolphe Godin de Lepinay in 1879 46 But in 1906 Stevens who had seen the Chagres in full flood was summoned to Washington he declared a sea level approach to be an entirely untenable proposition He argued in favor of a canal using a lock system to raise and lower ships from a large reservoir 85 ft 26 m above sea level This would create both the largest dam Gatun Dam and the largest human made lake Gatun Lake in the world at that time The water to refill the locks would be taken from Gatun Lake by opening and closing enormous gates and valves and letting gravity propel the water from the lake Gatun Lake would connect to the Pacific through the mountains at the Gaillard Culebra Cut Unlike Godin de Lepinay with the Congres International d Etudes du Canal Interoceanique Stevens successfully convinced Roosevelt of the necessity and feasibility of this alternative scheme 47 The construction of a canal with locks required the excavation of more than 17 million cu yd 13 million m3 of material over and above the 30 million cu yd 23 million m3 excavated by the French As quickly as possible the Americans replaced or upgraded the old unusable French equipment with new construction equipment that was designed for a much larger and faster scale of work 102 large railroad mounted steam shovels were purchased 77 from Bucyrus Erie and 25 from the Marion Power Shovel Company These were joined by enormous steam powered cranes giant hydraulic rock crushers concrete mixers dredges and pneumatic power drills nearly all of which were manufactured by new extensive machine building technology developed and built in the United States The railroad also had to be comprehensively upgraded with heavy duty double tracked rails over most of the line to accommodate new rolling stock In many places the new Gatun Lake flooded over the original rail line and a new line had to be constructed above Gatun Lake s waterline Between 1912 and 1914 there was a controversy about the tolls for the canal 48 Construction of locks on the Panama Canal 1913 Goethals replaces Stevens as chief engineer Edit General George Washington Goethals who completed the canal In 1907 Stevens resigned as chief engineer 49 His replacement appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt was US Army Major George Washington Goethals of the US Army Corps of Engineers Soon to be promoted to lieutenant colonel and later to general he was a strong West Point trained leader and civil engineer with experience in canals unlike Stevens Goethals directed the work in Panama to a successful conclusion in 1914 two years ahead of the target date of June 10 1916 50 Goethals divided the engineering and excavation work into three divisions Atlantic Central and Pacific The Atlantic Division under Major William L Sibert was responsible for construction of the massive breakwater at the entrance to Limon Bay the Gatun locks and their 3 1 2 mile 5 6 km approach channel and the immense Gatun Dam The Pacific Division under Sydney B Williamson the only civilian member of this high level team was similarly responsible for the Pacific 3 mile 4 8 km breakwater in Panama Bay the approach channel to the locks and the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks and their associated dams and reservoirs 51 The Central Division under Major David du Bose Gaillard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers was assigned one of the most difficult parts excavating the Culebra Cut through the continental divide to connect Gatun Lake to the Pacific Panama Canal locks 52 On October 10 1913 President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph which triggered the explosion that destroyed the Gamboa Dike This flooded the Culebra Cut thereby joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal 53 Alexandre La Valley a floating crane built by Lobnitz amp Company and launched in 1887 was the first self propelled vessel to transit the canal from ocean to ocean This vessel crossed the canal from the Atlantic in stages during construction finally reaching the Pacific on January 7 1914 54 SS Cristobal a cargo and passenger ship built by Maryland Steel and launched in 1902 as SS Tremont on August 3 1914 was the first ship to transit the canal from ocean to ocean 55 The construction of the canal was completed in 1914 401 years after Panama was first crossed overland by the Europeans in Vasco Nunez de Balboa s party of conquistadores The United States spent almost 500 million roughly equivalent to 14 6 billion in 2022 56 to finish the project This was by far the largest American engineering project to date The canal was formally opened on August 15 1914 with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon 57 The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 caused a severe drop in traffic along Chilean ports due to shifts in maritime trade routes 58 59 60 despite the closure of the canal for nearly seven months after a land slide in the Culebra Cut on September 18 1915 61 The burgeoning sheep farming business in southern Patagonia suffered a significant setback by the change in trade routes 62 as did the economy of the Falkland Islands 63 Throughout this time Ernest Red Hallen was hired by the Isthmian Canal Commission to document the progress of the work In 1914 steam shovels from the Panama Canal were purchased and put to use in Chuquicamata copper mine of northern Chile 64 A Marion steam shovel excavating the Panama Canal in 1908 The Panama Canal locks under construction in 1910 The first ship to transit the canal the SS Ancon passes through on 15 August 1914 Spanish laborers working on the Panama Canal in early 1900sLater developments Edit See also Third set of locks project expansion The USS Missouri an Iowa class battleship passes through the canal in 1945 The 108 2 32 96 m beams of the Iowas and preceding South Dakota class were the largest ever to transit the Canal By the 1930s water supply became an issue for the canal prompting construction of the Madden Dam across the Chagres River above Gatun Lake Completed in 1935 the dam created Madden Lake later Alajuela Lake which provides additional water storage for the canal 65 In 1939 construction began on a further major improvement a new set of locks large enough to carry the larger warships that the United States was building at the time and planned to continue building The work proceeded for several years and significant excavation was carried out on the new approach channels but the project was canceled after World War II 66 67 After World War II US control of the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it became contentious relations between Panama and the United States became increasingly tense Many Panamanians felt that the Zone rightfully belonged to Panama student protests were met by the fencing in of the zone and an increased military presence there 68 Demands for the United States to hand over the canal to Panama increased after the Suez Crisis in 1956 when the United States used financial and diplomatic pressure to force France and the UK to abandon their attempt to retake control of the Suez Canal previously nationalized by the Nasser regime in Egypt Panamanian unrest culminated in riots on Martyr s Day January 9 1964 when about 20 Panamanians and 3 5 US soldiers were killed citation needed Statement on the Panama Canal Treaty Signing source source track President Jimmy Carter s speech upon signing the Panama Canal treaty September 7 1977 Problems playing this file See media help A decade later in 1974 negotiations toward a settlement began and resulted in the Torrijos Carter Treaties On September 7 1977 the treaty was signed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos de facto leader of Panama This mobilized the process of granting the Panamanians free control of the canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the canal The treaty led to full Panamanian control effective at noon on December 31 1999 and the Panama Canal Authority ACP assumed command of the waterway The Panama Canal remains one of the chief revenue sources for Panama 69 70 Before this handover the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25 year contract for operation of the container shipping ports located at the canal s Atlantic and Pacific outlets The contract was not affiliated with the ACP or Panama Canal operations and was won by the firm Hutchison Whampoa a Hong Kong based shipping interest owned by Li Ka shing 71 Canal EditLayout Edit vtePanama CanalLegend kmmiAtlantic Ocean Caribbean Sea 0 Atlantic Entrance Manzanillo Bay Breakwater 8 75 4 Port of Colon Cristobal city 8 75 4 Port of Colon Cristobal city Cruise terminal Manzanillo MIT Free Trade Zone E A Jimenez Airport Atlantic railway station freight terminal Atlantic Bridge 2019 1 91 2 Gatun Locks 3 chambers 26 m 85 ft Agua Clara Locks 2016 3 chambers 3 water saving basins each Gatun Dam Chagres River hydroelectric power 22 5 MW 72 spillway 24 215 0 Gatun Lake Gatun River causeway Monte Lirio railway bridge 8 55 3 Gamboa Chagres River Madden Dam Alajuela Lake hydroelectric power 36 MW 72 12 67 8 Culebra Cut Gaillard Cut Continental watershed summit Centennial Bridge Pan American Highway via Panama City 1 40 9 Pedro Miguel Locks 1 chamber 9 5 m 31 ft Cocoli Locks 2016 3 chambers 3 water saving basins each 1 71 1 Miraflores Lake 1 71 1 Miraflores Locks 2 chambers 16 5 m 54 ft spillway 13 28 2 Port of Balboa Balboa city 13 28 2 Port of Balboa Balboa city Diablo hamlet M A Gelabert Airport Corozal railway station freight terminal total Bridge of the Americas Arraijan Panama City 77 147 9 Pacific EntrancePacific Ocean Gulf of Panama Legend Navigable canal maximum draft 39 5 feet 12 0 m Non navigable water Dock industrial or logistical area Water flow direction Panama Canal Railway passenger station freight station City village or town Pacific Side entrance Administration BuildingWhile globally the Atlantic Ocean is east of the isthmus and the Pacific is west the general direction of the canal passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific is from northwest to southeast because of the shape of the isthmus at the point the canal occupies The Bridge of the Americas Spanish Puente de las Americas at the Pacific side is about a third of a degree east of the Colon end on the Atlantic side 73 Still in formal nautical communications the simplified directions southbound and northbound are used The canal consists of artificial lakes several improved and artificial channels and three sets of locks An additional artificial lake Alajuela Lake known during the American era as Madden Lake acts as a reservoir for the canal The layout of the canal as seen by a ship passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific is 74 From the formal marking line of the Atlantic Entrance one enters Limon Bay Bahia Limon a large natural harbor The entrance runs 8 9 km 5 1 2 mi It provides a deepwater port Cristobal with facilities like multimodal cargo exchange to and from train and the Colon Free Trade Zone a free port A 3 2 km 2 mi channel forms the approach to the locks from the Atlantic side The Gatun Locks a three stage flight of locks 2 0 km 1 1 4 mi long lifts ships to the Gatun Lake level some 27 m 87 ft above sea level Gatun Lake an artificial lake formed by the building of the Gatun Dam carries vessels 24 km 15 mi across the isthmus It is the summit canal stretch fed by the Gatun River and emptied by basic lock operations From the lake the Chagres River a natural waterway enhanced by the damming of Gatun Lake runs about 8 4 km 5 1 4 mi Here the upper Chagres River feeds the high level canal stretch The Culebra Cut slices 12 5 km 7 3 4 mi through the mountain ridge crosses the continental divide and passes under the Centennial Bridge The single stage Pedro Miguel Lock which is 1 4 km 7 8 mi long is the first part of the descent with a lift of 9 4 m 31 ft The artificial Miraflores Lake 1 8 km 1 1 8 mi long and 16 m 54 ft above sea level The two stage Miraflores Locks is 1 8 km 1 1 8 mi long with a total descent of 16 m 54 ft at mid tide From the Miraflores Locks one reaches Balboa harbor again with multimodal exchange provision here the railway meets the shipping route again Nearby is Panama City From this harbor an entrance exit channel leads to the Pacific Ocean Gulf of Panama 13 3 km 8 1 4 mi from the Miraflores Locks passing under the Bridge of the Americas Thus the total length of the canal is 80 km 50 mi Navigation Edit Point Coordinates links to map amp photo sources Map this section s coordinates using OpenStreetMapDownload coordinates as KML GPX all coordinates GPX primary coordinates GPX secondary coordinates NotesAtlantic Entrance 9 23 15 N 79 55 07 W 9 38743 N 79 91863 W 9 38743 79 91863 Atlantic Entrance Gatun Locks 9 16 20 N 79 55 22 W 9 27215 N 79 92266 W 9 27215 79 92266 Gatun Locks Trinidad Turn 9 12 36 N 79 55 27 W 9 20996 N 79 92408 W 9 20996 79 92408 Trinidad Turn In The Cut Bohio Turn 9 10 42 N 79 52 00 W 9 17831 N 79 86667 W 9 17831 79 86667 Bohio Turn In The Cut Orchid Turn 9 11 03 N 79 50 42 W 9 18406 N 79 84513 W 9 18406 79 84513 Orchid Turn In The Cut Frijoles Turn 9 09 33 N 79 48 49 W 9 15904 N 79 81362 W 9 15904 79 81362 Frijoles Turn In The Cut Barbacoa Turn 9 07 14 N 79 48 14 W 9 12053 N 79 80395 W 9 12053 79 80395 Barbacoa Turn In The Cut Mamei Turn 9 06 42 N 79 46 07 W 9 11161 N 79 76856 W 9 11161 79 76856 Mamei Turn In The Cut Gamboa Reach 9 07 04 N 79 43 21 W 9 11774 N 79 72257 W 9 11774 79 72257 Gamboa Reach Bas Obispo Reach 9 05 46 N 79 41 04 W 9 09621 N 79 68446 W 9 09621 79 68446 Bas Obispo Reach Las Cascadas Reach 9 04 36 N 79 40 30 W 9 07675 N 79 67492 W 9 07675 79 67492 Las Cascadas Reach Empire Reach 9 03 40 N 79 39 47 W 9 06104 N 79 66309 W 9 06104 79 66309 Empire Reach Culebra Reach 9 02 51 N 79 39 01 W 9 04745 N 79 65017 W 9 04745 79 65017 Culebra Reach Cucaracha Reach 9 02 01 N 79 38 14 W 9 03371 N 79 63736 W 9 03371 79 63736 Cucaracha Reach Paraiso Reach 9 01 33 N 79 37 30 W 9 02573 N 79 62492 W 9 02573 79 62492 Paraiso Reach Pedro Miguel Locks 9 01 01 N 79 36 46 W 9 01698 N 79 61281 W 9 01698 79 61281 Pedro Miguel Locks Miraflores Lake 9 00 27 N 79 36 09 W 9 00741 N 79 60254 W 9 00741 79 60254 Miraflores Lake Miraflores Locks 8 59 48 N 79 35 31 W 8 99679 N 79 59182 W 8 99679 79 59182 Miraflores Locks Balboa Reach 8 58 22 N 79 34 40 W 8 97281 N 79 57771 W 8 97281 79 57771 Balboa Reach Pacific Entrance 8 53 18 N 79 31 17 W 8 88846 N 79 52145 W 8 88846 79 52145 Pacific Entrance Gatun Lake Edit Gatun Lake provides the water used to raise and lower vessels in the Canal gravity fed into each set of locksCreated in 1913 by damming the Chagres River the Gatun Lake is a key part of the Panama Canal providing the millions of liters of water necessary to operate its locks each time a ship passes through At time of formation Gatun Lake was the largest human made lake in the world The largest island on Gatun Lake is Barro Colorado Island It was established for scientific study when the lake was formed and is operated by the Smithsonian Institution Many important scientific and biological discoveries of the tropical animal and plant kingdom originated here Gatun Lake covers about 470 km2 180 sq mi a vast tropical ecological zone and part of the Atlantic Forest Corridor Ecotourism on the lake has become an industry for Panamanians Gatun Lake also provides drinking water for Panama City and Colon Fishing is one of the primary recreational pursuits on Gatun Lake Non native peacock bass were introduced by accident to Gatun Lake around 1967 75 by a local businessman 76 and have since flourished to become the dominant angling game fish in Gatun Lake Locally called Sargento and believed to be the species Cichla pleiozona 77 these peacock bass originate from the Amazon Rio Negro and Orinoco river basins where they are considered a premier game fish Lock size Edit Main article Panama Canal locksBecause of the importance of the canal to international trade many ships are built to the maximum size allowed Miter lock gate at GatunFor its first century the width and length of ships that may transit the canal was limited by the Pedro Miguel Locks their draft by the canal s minimum 12 6 m 41 2 ft depth and their height by the main span of the Bridge of the Americas at Balboa Ships built to those limits are known as Panamax vessels A Panamax cargo ship typically has a deadweight tonnage DWT of 65 000 80 000 tons but its actual cargo is restricted to about 52 500 tons because of the canal s draft restrictions within the canal 78 The longest ship ever to transit the canal was the San Juan Prospector now Marcona Prospector an ore bulk oil carrier that is 296 57 m 973 ft long with a beam of 32 31 m 106 ft 79 Initially the locks at Gatun were designed to be 28 5 m 94 ft wide In 1908 the United States Navy requested that the width be increased to at least 36 m 118 ft to allow the passage of large warships A compromise was made and the locks were built 33 53 m 110 0 ft wide Each lock is 320 m 1 050 ft long with the walls ranging in thickness from 15 m 49 ft at the base to 3 m 9 8 ft at the top The central wall between the parallel locks at Gatun is 18 m 59 ft thick and over 24 m 79 ft high The steel lock gates measure an average of 2 m 6 6 ft thick 19 5 m 64 ft wide and 20 m 66 ft high 80 Panama Canal pilots were initially unprepared to handle the flight decks of aircraft carriers which protrude beyond the hull on either side of the ship When USS Saratoga made her first trip through the Gatun Locks in 1928 the ship knocked over all the concrete lamp posts along the canal 81 In 2016 a decade long expansion project created larger locks allowing bigger ships to transit through deeper and wider channels The allowed dimensions of ships using these locks increased by 25 percent in length 51 percent in beam and 26 percent in draft as defined by New Panamax metrics 82 Tolls Edit Roll on roll off ships such as this one at Miraflores locks are among the largest ships to pass through the canal As with a toll road vessels transiting the canal must pay tolls Tolls for the canal are set by the Panama Canal Authority and are based on vessel type size and the type of cargo 83 For container ships the toll is assessed on the ship s capacity expressed in twenty foot equivalent units TEUs one TEU being the size of a standard intermodal shipping container Effective April 1 2016 this toll went from US 74 per loaded container to 60 per TEU capacity plus 30 per loaded container for a potential 90 per TEU when the ship is full A Panamax container ship may carry up to 4 400 TEU The toll is calculated differently for passenger ships and for container ships carrying no cargo in ballast As of April 1 2016 update the ballast rate is US 60 down from US 65 60 per TEU Passenger vessels in excess of 30 000 tons PC UMS pay a rate based on the number of berths that is the number of passengers that can be accommodated in permanent beds The per berth charge since April 1 2016 is 111 for unoccupied berths and 138 for occupied berths in the Panamax locks Started in 2007 this fee has greatly increased the tolls for such ships 84 Passenger vessels of less than 30 000 tons or less than 33 tons per passenger are charged according to the same per ton schedule as are freighters Almost all major cruise ships have more than 33 tons per passenger the rule of thumb for cruise line comfort is generally given as a minimum of 40 tons per passenger Most other types of vessel pay a toll per PC UMS net ton in which one ton is actually a volume of 100 cubic feet 2 83 m3 The calculation of tonnage for commercial vessels is quite complex As of fiscal year 2016 update this toll is US 5 25 per ton for the first 10 000 tons US 5 14 per ton for the next 10 000 tons and US 5 06 per ton thereafter As with container ships reduced tolls are charged for freight ships in ballast 4 19 4 12 4 05 respectively On 1 April 2016 a more complicated toll system was introduced having the neopanamax locks at a higher rate in some cases natural gas transport as a new separate category and other changes 85 As of October 1 2017 there are modified tolls and categories of tolls in effect 86 Small less than 125 ft vessels up to 583 PC UMS net tons when carrying passengers or cargo or up to 735 PC UMS net tons when in ballast or up to 1 048 fully loaded displacement tons are assessed minimum tolls based upon their length overall according to the following table as of 29 April 2015 Length of vessel TollUp to 15 240 meters 50 ft US 800From 15 240 to 24 384 meters 50 to 80 ft US 1 300From 24 384 to 30 480 meters 80 to 100 ft US 2 000More than 30 480 meters 100 ft US 3 200INTRA MARITIME CLUSTER Local TourismMore than 24 384 meters 80 ft US 2 000plus 72 TEUMorgan Adams of Los Angeles California holds the distinction of paying the first toll received by the U S government for the use of the Panama Canal by a pleasure boat His boat Lasata passed through the Zone on August 14 1914 The crossing occurred during a 10 000 kilometer 6 000 mile sea voyage from Jacksonville Florida to Los Angeles in 1914 citation needed The most expensive regular toll for canal passage to date was charged on April 14 2010 to the cruise ship Norwegian Pearl which paid US 375 600 87 88 The average toll is around US 54 000 The highest fee for priority passage charged through the Transit Slot Auction System was US 220 300 paid on August 24 2006 by the Panamax tanker Erikoussa 89 bypassing a 90 ship queue waiting for the end of maintenance work on the Gatun Locks and thus avoiding a seven day delay The normal fee would have been just US 13 430 90 The lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents equivalent to 6 14 in 2022 by American Richard Halliburton who swam the Panama Canal in 1928 91 Issues leading to expansion Edit Panorama of Pacific entrance of the canal Left Pacific Ocean and Puente de las Americas Bridge of Pan American Highway far right Miraflores locks Efficiency and maintenance Edit Opponents to the 1977 Torrijos Carter Treaties feared that efficiency and maintenance would suffer following the U S withdrawal from the Panama Canal Zone however this has been proven not to be the case In 2004 it was reported that canal operations capitalizing on practices developed during the American administration were improving under Panamanian control 92 Canal Waters Time CWT the average time it takes a vessel to navigate the canal including waiting time is a key measure of efficiency in the first decade of the 2000s it ranged between 20 and 30 hours according to the ACP The accident rate has also not changed appreciably in the past decade varying between 10 and 30 accidents each year from about 14 000 total annual transits 93 94 95 An official accident is one in which a formal investigation is requested and conducted Increasing volumes of imports from Asia which previously landed on US West Coast ports are now passing through the canal to the American East Coast 96 The total number of ocean going transits increased from 11 725 in 2003 to 13 233 in 2007 falling to 12 855 in 2009 The canal s fiscal year runs from October through September 97 This has been coupled with a steady rise in average ship size and in the numbers of Panamax vessels passing through the canal so that the total tonnage carried rose from 227 9 million PC UMS tons in fiscal year 1999 to a then record high of 312 9 million tons in 2007 and falling to 299 1 million tons in 2009 73 97 Tonnage for fiscal 2013 2014 and 2015 was 320 6 326 8 and 340 8 million PC UMS tons carried on 13 660 13 481 and 13 874 transits respectively 98 In the first decade after the transfer to Panamanian control the Panama Canal Authority ACP invested nearly US 1 billion in widening and modernizing the canal with the aim of increasing capacity by 20 percent 99 The ACP cites a number of major improvements including the widening and straightening of the Culebra Cut to reduce restrictions on passing vessels the deepening of the navigational channel in Gatun Lake to reduce draft restrictions and improve water supply and the deepening of the Atlantic and Pacific entrances to the canal This is supported by new equipment such as a new drill barge and suction dredger and an increase of the tug boat fleet by 20 percent In addition improvements have been made to the canal s operating machinery including an increased and improved tug locomotive fleet the replacement of more than 16 km 10 mi of locomotive track and new lock machinery controls Improvements have been made to the traffic management system to allow more efficient control over ships in the canal 100 In December 2010 record breaking rains caused a 17 hour closure of the canal this was the first closure since the United States invasion of Panama in 1989 101 102 The rains also caused an access road to the Centenario Bridge to collapse 103 104 105 106 Capacity Edit The canal handles more vessel traffic than had ever been envisioned by its builders In 1934 it was estimated that the maximum capacity of the canal would be around 80 million tons per year 107 as noted above canal traffic in 2015 reached 340 8 million tons of shipping To improve capacity a number of improvements have been made to maximize the use of the locking system 108 Implementation of an enhanced locks lighting system Construction of two tie up stations in Culebra Cut Widening Culebra Cut from 192 to 218 meters 630 to 715 ft Improvements to the tugboat fleet Implementation of the carousel lockage system in Gatun locks Development of an improved vessel scheduling system Deepening of Gatun Lake navigational channels from 10 4 to 11 3 meters 34 to 37 ft PLD Modification of all locks structures to allow an additional draft of about 0 30 meters 1 ft Deepening of the Pacific and Atlantic entrances Construction of a new spillway in Gatun for flood control These improvements enlarged the capacity from 300 million PCUMS 2008 to 340 PCUMS 2012 These improvements were started before the new locks project and are complementary to it Competition Edit Maximum ship sizes for the Panama and Suez canals 109 The canal faces increasing competition from other quarters Because canal tolls have risen as ships have become larger some critics 110 have suggested that the Suez Canal is now a viable alternative for cargo en route from Asia to the US East Coast 111 The Panama Canal however continues to serve more than 144 of the world s trade routes and the majority of canal traffic comes from the all water route from Asia to the US East and Gulf Coasts citation needed An alternative route through Nicaragua and Lake Nicaragua has been proposed On June 15 2013 Nicaragua awarded the Hong Kong based HKND Group a 50 year concession to develop a canal through the country 112 In February 2018 analysts widely viewed the project as defunct 113 114 115 though the head of the project insisted work was on going In April 2018 HKND Group closed its offices leaving no forwarding address or telephone numbers to be reached 116 The increasing rate of melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean has led to speculation that the Northwest Passage or Arctic Bridge may become viable for commercial shipping This route would save 9 300 km 5 800 mi on the route from Asia to Europe compared with the Panama Canal possibly leading to a diversion of some traffic to that route However such a route is beset by unresolved territorial issues and would still hold significant problems owing to ice 117 Water issues Edit Gatun locks showing the mule locomotives at work Mule in the Miraflores LocksGatun Lake is filled with rainwater and the lake accumulates excess water during wet months The water is lost to the oceans at a rate of 101 000 m3 26 7 million US gal 81 9 acre ft per downward lock cycle Since a ship will have to go upward to Gatun Lake first and then descend a single passing will cost double the amount but the same waterflow cycle can be used for another ship passing in the opposite direction The ship s submerged volume is not relevant to this amount of water 118 119 During the dry season when there is less rainfall there is also a shortage of water in Gatun Lake 120 As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development the ACP has developed an environmentally and socially sustainable program for expansion which protects the aquatic and terrestrial resources of the canal watershed The expansion guarantees the availability and quality of water resources by using water saving basins at each new lock These water saving basins diminish water loss and preserve freshwater resources along the waterway by reusing water from the basins into the locks Each lock chamber has three water saving basins which reuse 60 percent of the water in each transit There are a total of nine basins for each of the two lock complexes and a total of 18 basins for the entire project 121 The mean sea level at the Pacific side is about 20 cm 8 in higher than that of the Atlantic side due to differences in ocean conditions such as water density and weather 122 Third set of locks project expansion EditMain article Panama Canal expansion project New Panama Canal expansion project July 2015 As demand is rising for efficient global shipping of goods the canal is positioned to be a significant feature of world shipping for the foreseeable future However changes in shipping patterns particularly the increasing numbers of larger than Panamax ships necessitated changes to the canal for it to retain a significant market share In 2006 it was anticipated that by 2011 37 percent of the world s container ships would be too large for the present canal and hence a failure to expand would result in a significant loss of market share The maximum sustainable capacity of the original canal given some relatively minor improvement work was estimated at 340 million PC UMS tons per year it was anticipated that this capacity would be reached between 2009 and 2012 Close to 50 percent of transiting vessels were already using the full width of the locks 123 An enlargement scheme to allow for a greater number of transits and the ability to handle larger ships similar to the Third Lock Scheme of 1939 had been under consideration for some time 124 and by 2006 Panama s government canal authority was recommending such a plan 125 126 The expansion proposal with a cost estimate of US 5 25 billion was expected to double the canal s shipping capacity by allowing both the passage of longer and wider Post Panamax ships and an increase in overall traffic This proposal was approved in a national referendum by about 80 percent on October 22 2006 127 The canal expansion was built between 2007 and 2016 1 New Agua Clara locks Atlantic side in operationThe expansion plan had two new flights of locks built parallel to and operated in addition to the old locks one east of the existing Gatun locks and one southwest of the Miraflores locks each supported by approach channels Each flight ascends from sea level directly to the level of Gatun Lake the existing two stage ascent at Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks was not replicated The new lock chambers feature sliding gates doubled for safety and are 427 m 1 400 ft long 55 m 180 ft wide and 18 3 m 60 ft deep This allows the transit of vessels with a beam of up to 49 m 160 ft an overall length of up to 366 m 1 200 ft and a draft of up to 15 m 49 ft equivalent to a container ship carrying around 12 000 containers each 6 1 m 20 ft in length TEU The new locks are supported by new approach channels including a 6 2 km 3 9 mi channel at Miraflores from the locks to the Gaillard Cut skirting Miraflores Lake Each of these channels are 218 m 720 ft wide which will require post Panamax vessels to navigate the channels in one direction at a time The Gaillard Cut and the channel through Gatun Lake were widened to at least 280 m 920 ft on the straight portions and at least 366 m 1 200 ft on the bends The maximum level of Gatun Lake was raised from 26 7 m 88 ft to 27 1 m 89 ft Each flight of locks is accompanied by nine water reuse basins three per lock chamber each basin being about 70 m 230 ft wide 430 m 1 400 ft long and 5 50 m 18 ft deep These gravity fed basins allow 60 percent of the water used in each transit to be reused the new locks consequently use 7 percent less water per transit than each of the existing lock lanes The deepening of Gatun Lake and the raising of its maximum water level also provide capacity for significantly more water storage These measures are intended to allow the expanded canal to operate without constructing new reservoirs The estimated cost of the project is US 5 25 billion The project was designed to allow for an anticipated growth in traffic from 280 million PC UMS tons in 2005 to nearly 510 million PC UMS tons in 2025 The expanded canal will have a maximum sustainable capacity of about 600 million PC UMS tons per year Tolls will continue to be calculated based on vessel tonnage and in some cases depend on the locks used An article in the February 2007 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine described the engineering aspects of the expansion project 128 There is also a follow up article in the February 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics 129 On September 3 2007 thousands of Panamanians stood across from Paraiso Hill in Panama to witness a huge initial explosion and launch of the Expansion Program The first phase of the project was the dry excavations of the 218 meters 715 feet wide trench connecting the Gaillard Cut with the Pacific coast removing 47 million cubic meters of earth and rock 130 By June 2012 a 30 m reinforced concrete monolith had been completed the first of 46 such monoliths which will line the new Pacific side lock walls 131 By early July 2012 however it was announced that the canal expansion project had fallen six months behind schedule leading expectations for the expansion to open in April 2015 rather than October 2014 as originally planned 132 By September 2014 the new gates were projected to be open for transit at the beginning of 2016 133 134 135 136 Neopanamax ship passing through the Agua Clara locks It was announced in July 2009 that the Belgian dredging company Jan De Nul together with a consortium of contractors consisting of the Spanish Sacyr Vallehermoso the Italian Impregilo and the Panamanian company Grupo Cusa had been awarded the contract to build the six new locks for US 3 1 billion which was one billion less than the next highest competing bid due to having a concrete budget 71 percent smaller than that of the next bidder and allotted roughly 25 percent less for steel to reinforce that concrete The contract resulted in 100 million in dredging works over the next few years for the Belgian company and a great deal of work for its construction division The design of the locks is a carbon copy of the Berendrecht Lock which is 68 m wide and 500 m long making it the second largest lock in the world after the Kieldrecht lock in the port of Antwerp Belgium Completed in 1989 by the Port of Antwerp which De Nul helped build the company still has engineers and specialists who were part of that project 137 In January 2014 a contract dispute threatened the progress of the project 138 139 There was a delay of less than two months however with work by the consortium members reaching goals by June 2014 140 141 In June 2015 flooding of the new locks began first on the Atlantic side then on the Pacific by then the canal s re inauguration was slated for April 2016 142 143 144 On March 23 2016 the expansion inauguration was set for June 26 2016 145 The new locks opened for commercial traffic on 26 June 2016 and the first ship to cross the canal using the third set of locks was a modern New Panamax vessel the Chinese owned container ship Cosco Shipping Panama 1 The original locks now over 100 years old allow engineers greater access for maintenance and are projected to continue operating indefinitely 123 After the construction of the new locks in addition to the already existing ones to date the ship with the largest dimensions transiting the Panama Canal new sideway had the following dimensions 366 47 meters in length 48 23 meters in width and 15 meters draft citation needed The total cost is unknown since the expansion s contractors are seeking at least an additional US 3 4 billion from the canal authority due to excess expenses 146 Routes competing with the canal EditNicaragua canal Edit Main article Nicaragua Canal On July 7 2014 Wang Jing chairman of the HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co Ltd HKND Group advised that a route for Nicaragua s proposed canal had been approved The construction work was projected by HKND to begin in 2014 and take 5 years 147 although there had been little progress before the project s abandonment 148 The Nicaraguan parliament approved plans for the 280 km 174 mi canal through Nicaragua and according to the deal the company would have been responsible for operating and maintaining the canal for a 50 year period By May 2017 no concrete action had been reportedly taken constructing the canal and further doubts were expressed about its financing 149 In February 2018 analysts widely viewed the project as defunct though the head of the project insisted work was on going and HKND retained the legal rights to the concession for the canal as well as side projects Despite HKND vanishing in April 2018 150 the Nicaraguan government indicates that it will continue with the 908 km2 351 sq mi dry land expropriations within Nicaragua under land expropriation Canal Law 840 Colombia rail link Edit In 2011 Colombia s then president Juan Manuel Santos announced a proposal for a 220 km 137 mi railway between Colombia s Pacific and Caribbean coasts 151 152 However in 2015 the director of the Colombia China Chamber of Commerce said the proposal was mentioned in 2011 and subsequently had minimal relevance 153 Northwest Passage Edit Main article Northwest Passage Climate change has thinned much of the ice that in the past made this route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans impassable Satellite navigation can help monitor location of the ice which remains further easing transit A few ships have successfully crossed the previously impossible route since 2000 154 Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Edit Since 2019 Mexico has been building a canal of its own known as the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec CIIT by its initials in Spanish which will use primarily a railway to transport cargo and passengers from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic 155 It is expected to start operating at full capacity on December 2023 156 This idea is older than the Panama Canal itself with the original Tehuantepec Railway which is being rehabilitated for the CIIT being inaugurated in 1907 to initial success but falling out of use due to the Mexican Revolution and the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 The current Corridor is expected to have certain advantages over the Panama Canal such as its speed being able to transport cargo from one ocean to the other in about six hours 157 and its location being closer to the United States than Panama in addition to the creation of ten industrial parks in the Isthmus with various tax benefits to encourage private investment 158 However despite being often described as a potential alternative competitor to the Panama Canal the ambassador of Panama in Mexico Alfredo Oranges and the former director of the CIIT Rafael Marin Mollinedo have stated that they do not see the CIIT in this way and that they prefer to see it as a complement to the Panama Canal which could relieve the intense traffic the Canal has to cope with The ambassador even proposed collaborating with the Mexican government to make the Corridor more efficient 159 160 Other projects Edit Wood engraving illustrating the plan for an Interoceanic Ship Railway in Central America between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans proposed by James B Eads in the late 19th century It was never built and the Panama Canal was built instead Individuals companies and governments have explored the possibility of constructing deep water ports and rail links connecting coasts as a dry canal in Guatemala Costa Rica and El Salvador Honduras However plans to construct these sea rail sea links have yet to materialize 161 Another option could have been the Ferrocarril Transistmico in Mexico if implemented for ships Master Key to Panama Canal and Honorary Pilots EditDuring the last one hundred years the Panama Canal Authority has granted membership in the Esteemed Order of Bearers of the Master Key of the Panama Canal and appointed a few Honorary Lead Pilots to employees captains and dignitaries 162 One of the most recent of these were U S Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis Sola who was awarded for his work for supporting seafarers during the COVID 19 pandemic and previously transiting the canal more than 100 times 163 Another recent award was to Commodore Ronald Warwick 164 a former Master of the Cunard Liners Queen Elizabeth 2 and RMS Queen Mary 2 who has traversed the Canal more than 50 times and Senior Captain Raffaele Minotauro an Unlimited Oceangoing Shipmaster Senior Grade of the former Italian governmental navigation company known as the Italian Line 165 See also EditAjax crane barge Canal des Deux Mers Canal Zone Police Corinth Canal List of waterways Panama Canal Zone Suez CanalReferences Edit a b c Zamorano Juan Martinez Kathia June 26 2016 Panama Canal opens 5B locks bullish despite shipping woes The Big Story Associated Press Archived from the original on June 26 2016 Retrieved March 6 2017 Panama Canal Traffic Years 1914 2010 Panama Canal Authority Archived from the original on December 30 2010 Retrieved January 25 2011 Annual Report 2017 PDF Panama Canal Authority Archived PDF from the original on April 3 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