| The Panama Canal | |
|---|---|
| A schematic of the Panama Canal, illustrating the sequence of locks and passages | |
| Original owner | La Société internationale du Canal |
| Principal engineer | John Findlay Wallace, John Frank Stevens (1906–1908), George Washington Goethals |
| Date of first use | August 15, 1914 |
| Locks | 3 locks up, 3 down per transit; all two lanes
(2 lanes of locks; locks built in three sites) |
| Status | Open |
| Navigation authority | Panama Canal Authority |
The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 82-kilometre (51 mi) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) and the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Work on the canal, which began in 1880, was completed in 1914. In the interim, yellow fever caused many deaths and delays and it wasn't until that threat and a better design for the canal was arrived at, that the canal could be completed.
The Panama Canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships in 1914 to 14,702 vessels in 2008, measuring a total of 309.6 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. In total, by 2008 over 815,000 vessels have passed through the canal.[1]. The American Society of Civil Engineers has named it one of the seven wonders of the modern world.[2]
One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the shortcut created by the Panama Canal made it possible for ships to travel to and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in half as much time as had it had once taken. It was no longer necessary for ships to take the longer Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America, or to sail the dangerous waters through the Magellan Straits. The shorter, faster, safer route to the U.S. west coast and nations in and along the Pacific Ocean allowed them to become more integrated into the world economy.
The first attempt to construct a sea-level canal was begun in 1880 under the leadership of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, with heavy financing and support from Paris. The health risks posed to workers in the mosquito-infested Panamanian jungle -- principally malaria and yellow fever -- cost thousands of lives and caused unanticipated delays. The cost and difficulty of building a canal in the rain-soaked tropics through unstable mountains exceeded expectations. Accidents and disease cost about 22,000 workers their lives. The French effort went bankrupt and was largely abandoned by 1890.
The United States bought the French concession to the canal and the Panama Railroad in 1904 for $40,000,000. The U.S. also signed a treaty with the new country of Panama to establish U.S. control over the Panama Canal Zone in exchange for a one-time payment of $10,000,000, plus an additional fee payable each year. In all, it was estimated that Frech excavation of about 30,000,000 cu yd (22,936,646 m3), primarily in Gaillard Cut (then called the Culebra Cut), was of direct use to the U.S. construction effort and was valued at about $1.00 per 1 cu yd (1 m3), or $30,000,000. The remaining usable French equipment, engineering surveys, etc. were valued at about $10,000,000 more. [3]
A U.S. engineering panel was commissioned to study the potential of building the canal and recommended a sea-level canal to President Theodore Roosevelt. However, more extensive engineering studies favored a canal using a lock system to raise and lower ships from a large reservoir 85 feet (26 m) above sea level. This canal design was recommended to President Theodore Roosevelt by Chief Engineer John Frank Stevens and was agreed to by him. The 115 feet (35 m)-high Gatun Dam, created both the largest dam and the largest man-made lake (Gatun Lake) in the world at that time.
Gatun Lake connects to the Pacific through the canal cut though the mountains at the Gaillard Cut. To build a usable ship channel through the Galliard Cut involved excavating a wide "V" shaped trench through the mountains to get a stable 300 feet (91 m) wide ship channel. Building Gatun Dam and Lake Gatun reduced the amount of earth that needed to be excavated by about 85 feet (26 m) in depth by about 13 miles (21 km) long and a variable "V" shaped cut of 300 feet (91 m) to 2,600 feet (790 m) in width--cutting roughly in half the material that had to be eventually removed using an elevated canal design. In addition, the dam and lake provided a way to tame the often wild seasonal fluctuation of water levels in the Chagres River--the main source of water of Lake Gatun. The height of Lake Gatun is kept fairly constant by allowing excess water to go over the spillway in the rainy season and the lake water out-flow that doesn't go through the locks or over the spillway generates hydro-electric power year round. The reservoir in addition would require less excavation by expensive steam shovels and allow more excavation work that could be done with less expensive dredges. The dredges could excavate material at a cost of about $0.25-0.50/cuyd--roughly half the cost of the shovels. In the end, a canal that operated with an elevated reservoir and a system of three locks to raise ships above sea level to Gatun Lake, and then lower them on the opposite ocean with another set of three locks, was much less expensive, faster to build and a more feasible design than the original vision of a sea-level canal.
In about 1898, after the Spanish American War, the U.S. Army Medical Department had demonstrated that mosquitoes were the vector that caused the spread of yellow fever and malaria. In March, 1904, the Canal Commission appointed Colonel William Crawford Gorgas of the U.S. Army Medical Corp to head the hospitals in Panama and to initiate a large-scale sanitation and mosquito abatement effort. Millions of dollars were spend on mosquito abatement during an intense two-year effort, followed by eight additional years of enforcement and maintenance. The effort was largely successful -- yellow fever deaths were essentially eliminated in the Canal Zone.
The sanitation and mosquito abatement projects involved identifying and isolating patients with yellow fever or malaria; fumigation of buildings by burning sulfur or pyrethrum to kill mosquitoes; spraying insect breeding areas with oil and larvicide; paving roads in Panamanian towns to minimize stagnant water; mosquito netting over beds; introduction of window screens; and elimination of stagnant water in containers and draining swamps, etc.. Even with all of this effort, about 5,600 workers still died of disease and accidents during the U.S. construction phase of the Panama Canal.
In 1907, Chief Engineer Stevens resigned after completing the preliminary canal construction infrastructure and mosquito abatement buildup, and President Roosevelt appointed U.S. Army Colonel George Washington Goethals of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to succeed him as Chief Engineer on the Panama Canal construction project. Colonel Goethals was a strong leader, experienced with locks and canals; and working with the thousands of workers employed on the project succeeded in building and opening the Panama Canal in 1914. In the end, the engineers and workers minimized the mosquito threat; moved, rebuilt and expanded the Panama Railroad; excavated over 200,000,000 cu yd (152,910,972 m3) of earth; built the world's largest (then) dam and a lake; poured about 2,000,000 cu yd (1,529,110 m3) of concrete creating a spillway at Gatun Lake to control its height; and formed three sets of double 110 feet (34 m) by 1,000 feet (300 m) ships locks--then the largest concrete pour in the world. This was supported by an extensive buildup of U.S. built modern (then) heavy duty excavation and construction equipment; one of the world's earliest and most extensive electrical systems to power and control the flow of water into the locks and spillway. The U.S. spent almost $375,000,000, including $12.000,000 to build facilities used to guard the canal, to finish the project — by far the largest American engineering project of that or any previous era. The completion of the canal was celebrated in 1915-16 by the Panama–California Exposition. Colonel United States Goethals was promoted to Major General after the successful completion of the project — one of many honors bestowed on him. Colonel Gorgas was also promoted to Major General and, in 1914, was appointed Surgeon General of the Army for his work — one of many honors bestowed on him.
The United States controlled the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses until 1977, when the Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for a gradual transition of control to Panama. From 1979 to 1999, the canal was under joint U.S.–Panamanian administration. On December 31, 1999, command of the waterway was assumed by the Panama Canal Authority, an agency of the Panamanian government. The Panama Canal remains one of the chief revenue sources for Panama.
While the Pacific Ocean is west of the isthmus and the Atlantic to the east, the direction of the 8- to 10-hour canal passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic is from southeast to northwest. This is because of an anomaly in the shape of the isthmus at the point the canal occupies. Longitudinally, the Bridge of the Americas (Spanish: Puente de las Américas) at the Pacific side is about a third of a degree east of the Colon end on the Atlantic side.[4]
The maximum size of a ship that can transit the Panama Canal is called a Panamax. A Panamax cargo ship typically has a DWT of 65,000–80,000 tonnes, but its actual cargo is restricted to about 52,500 tonnes because of the 41.2 feet (12.6 m) draft (depth and water displacement) restrictions within the canal.[5]. The longest ship ever to transit the Panama Canal was the San Juan Prospector (now Marcona Prospector) an Ore-bulk-oil carrier that is 973 ft (296.57 m) long, with a beam of 106 ft (32.31 m).[6]
Contents |
The earliest mention of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama dates to 1534, when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a survey for a route through the Americas that would ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru. Such a route would have given the Spanish a tactical military advantage over the Portuguese.[7] During an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for its construction.[8]
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. An ill-fated Darien scheme was launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up an overland trade route, but generally inhospitable conditions thwarted the effort, and it was abandoned in July, 1699.[9] However, in 1849, the discovery of gold in California created a great deal of interest in a crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Finally, the Panama Railway was built to cross the isthmus, opening in 1855. This overland link became a vital piece of Western Hemisphere infrastructure, greatly facilitating trade and largely determining the later canal route.
Fueling the political fires for a canal, also in 1855, William Kennish, a Manx-born engineer in the employ of the United States government, surveyed the isthmus and issued a report on a route for a proposed Panama Canal.[10] His report was published in a book entitled The Practicality and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[11]
(See also: History of the Panama Canal)
An all-water route between the oceans was still seen as the ideal solution, and the idea of a canal was enhanced by the French success of the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal was build in a much more benign environment but still took 10 years to build the 102 mile canal--about twice the length of the Panama Canal. The French, under Ferdinand de Lesseps, began construction on a sea-level Panama Canal (i.e., without locks) through what was then Colombia's province of Panama, on January 1, 1880. The French began work in a rush, with insufficient prior study of the geology and hydrology of the region.[12] Excavation was conducted at such a steep angle that, in some years, rain-induced landslides poured nearly as much material into the canal as had been removed.[13] In addition, disease, particularly malaria and yellow fever, sickened and killed vast numbers of employees, ranging from laborers to top directors of the French company. Public health measures were ineffective because the role of the mosquito as a disease vector was then unknown. These high death rates made it very difficult to maintain an experienced work force as the experienced workers often soon weakened and/or died. French trained technical employees and engineers often quickly returned to France when they found the true work conditions--or died.
Even the hospitals contributed to the problem, unwittingly providing breeding places for mosquitoes inside the unscreened wards. Actual conditions were hushed up in France to avoid recruitment problems.[12] In 1893, after a great deal of work, the French scheme was abandoned due to disease and the sheer difficulty of building a sea-level canal, as well as lack of French field experience, such as with tropical downpours that caused steel equipment to rapidly rust.[14] The high toll from disease was one of the major factors in the failure; as many as 22,000 workers were estimated to have died during the main period of French construction (1881–1889).[12] The other difficulty was the limited types of heavy duty engineering and electrical equipment available in this time period. Steam shovels had been invented but were still primitive as were other types of heavy duty engineering equipment; electrical generators, electrical motors and electrical distribution systems, etc. were still in their "teething" stage--Nikolai Tesla just invented the AC motor in 1886. etc..
The men who started and directed the canal building project had little or no engineering training or experience and badly underestimated the difficulty they would encounter building something as massive as the Panama Canal. Even the geology worked to defeat them as canals cut though mountains had to continually be widened and the slope reduced to minimize landslides into the canal. Beyond the hygienic and technical difficulties, financial mismanagement and political corruption also contributed to the French failure.
There was a second French company created in 1894 the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama to finish the construction. A minimal workforce of a few thousand people was employed primarily to comply with the terms of the Colombian Panama Canal concession, run the Panama Railroad and to maintain the existing excavation and equipment in salable condition--the company had already started looking for a buyer, with a asking price tag of USD $109,000,000.
In all, it was estimated by U.S. engineers that the French excavation of about 30,000,000 cu yd (22,936,646 m3), primarily in Gaillard Cut, was of direct use to the U.S. construction effort and valued at about $1.00 per 1 cu yd (1 m3), or USD $30,000,000. The remaining usable French equipment, engineering surveys, etc. were valued at about USD $10,000,000 more. [15]
At this time, various interests in the United States were also expressing interest in building a canal across the isthmus, with some favouring a route across Nicaragua (see Nicaragua Canal and Ecocanal) and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama. Eventually, in June 1902, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of pursuing the Panamanian option, provided the necessary rights could be obtained. (It is claimed that the vote was swayed by William Nelson Cromwell.[16])
On January 22, 1903, the Hay-Herran Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Dr. Tomás Herrán of Colombia. It would have granted the United States a renewable lease in perpetuity from Colombia on the land proposed for the canal.[17] This is often misinterpreted as the "99-year lease" due to misleading wording included in article 22 of the agreement that refers to property within the land but does not pertain to the control of the canal and the right for the United States to renew the lease indefinitely.[18] It was ratified by the United States Senate on March 14, 1903, but the Senate of Colombia did not ratify the treaty. Philippe Bunau-Varilla, chief engineer of the French canal company, told Roosevelt and Hay of a possible revolt and hoped that the U.S. would support it with troops and money. President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt changed tactics, promising support for the separation of Panama from Colombia. On November 2, 1903, U.S. warships blocked sealanes for Colombian troops from coming to put down the revolt, while dense jungles blocked land routes. Panama achieved independence on November 3, 1903 when the United States sent naval forces to encourage Colombia's surrender of the region. The United States quickly recognized them. Also, on November 6, 1903, Phillipe Bunau-Varilla, 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. Although Bunau-Varilla was serving as Panama's ambassador, he was a French citizen and was not authorized to sign treaties on behalf of Panama without Panamanian review. This treaty would later become a contentious diplomatic issue between Panama and the U.S.
The United States, under President Theodore Roosevelt, bought out the French equipment and excavations for US$40 million and began work on May 4, 1904. The United States paid Colombia $10 million in 1921 and (later $250,000 per annum), seven years after completion of the canal, for redress of President Roosevelt's role in the creation of Panama, and Colombia recognized Panama under the terms of the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty.
The U.S. Government created the Isthmian Canal Commission to oversee the construction of the Panama Canal in the early years of American involvement. Established in 1904, it was given control of the Panama Canal Zone over which the United States exercised sovereignty.[19] The commission reported directly to Secretary of War William Taft.
Joseph Bucklin Bishop, an associate of Theodore Roosevelt and a strong editorial advocate for U.S. participation in the Canal project was appointed Executive Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission in Washington, D.C. the following year. Bishop was tasked with managing the Commission’s day-to-day matters but also with ensuring public support for the canal through public relations and by keeping the project’s official history. Bishop’s promised $10,000 annual salary was relentlessly criticized by Roosevelt’s opponents in Congress, mostly because it was twice what each of them made. Opposition newspapers joined in the criticism. In the summer of 1907, when escalating allegations of cronyism surrounding Bishop’s appointment threatened appropriations for Panama Canal construction, Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, surely with Roosevelt’s quiet consent, ordered Bishop out of Washington to Panama where the partisan political heat would be less intense. “I accept your decision without reluctance,” Bishop informed Taft, “and shall go to the Isthmus, not sadly but cheerfully”.[20] It would not be his first trip to Panama. In the fall of the previous year, Bishop had gone ahead to advance Roosevelt’s historic inspection tour, the first time a sitting President had journeyed outside the U.S.
Joseph Bucklin Bishop would, except for month-long summer breaks, remain on the isthmus for seven years, serving clandestinely at first as Theodore Roosevelt’s “eyes and ears”. He reported back on the “astonishing” progress that Army Corps of Engineers Colonel George Washington Goethals and his team were making excavating the “big ditch” and building dams and locks. Before long, Bishop became Goethals’s trusted aide, serving as his first line of defense against workers with complaints and grievances. But Bishop’s greatest achievement in Panama would be as founding editor of The Canal Record, a weekly newspaper for the thousands of workers in Panama. His regular reports of cubic yards dug by rival work divisions, and the competitive baseball games they played created a spirit of healthy competition that lifted worker morale and productivity. The “good news” of The Canal Record also built vital public support on newspaper editorial pages back home and in the halls of the United States Congress where annual appropriations were required to keep the canal project moving forward.
John Frank Stevens, Chief Engineer from 1905 to 1907, successfully argued the case against the incredibly massive excavation required for a sea-level canal like the French had tried to build and convinced Theodore Roosevelt of the necessity and feasibility of a canal built with dams and locks. One of Stevens' primary achievements in Panama was in building the infrastructure necessary to complete the canal. He had the Panama Railway rebuilt and upgraded with modern heavy-duty equipment. Implementing the recommendations of Walter Reed and Dr. William Gorgas, Stevens also built proper housing with screens for canal workers and oversaw investment in extensive sanitation and mosquito-abatement programs that minimized the spread of the deadly mosquito-spread diseases—particularly malaria and yellow fever. The mosquito had been identified as the vector (disease spreading agent) by Cuban physician and scientist Dr. Carlos Finlay in 1881. Finlay's theory and investigative work had recently been confirmed by Dr. Walter Reed while in Cuba with the U.S. Army after the Spanish-American War (1898) (see also Health measures during the construction of the Panama Canal).
With the diseases under control, and after significant work on preparing the infrastructure and railroad, construction of an elevated canal with locks began in earnest. Even the construction of the Panama Canal with locks still required the excavation of an enormous volume of material and was envisioned by John Frank Stevens as a massive earth-moving project using the Panama Railway as efficiently as possible. The railroad, starting in 1904, had to be comprehensively upgraded with heavy-duty double-tracked rails over most of the line to accommodate all the new rolling stock of about 115 heavy-duty locomotives and 2,300 dirt spoils railroad cars. There were about 102 of the new railroad-mounted steam shovels brought in from the United States and elsewhere. The steam shovels were some of the largest in the world in 1906 when they were introduced. The new railroad closely paralleled the canal where it could and was moved and reconstructed where it interfered with the canal work. In many places the new Lake Gatun flooded over the original rail line and a new rail line had to be raised above the water by massive dirt fills and bridges.
The Panama Canal Railway, besides hauling thousands of men, all the millions of tons of equipment and supplies, did much more. Essentially all of the hundreds of millions of cubic yards of material removed from the required canal cuts were broken up by explosives, loaded by steam shovels mounted on one set of railroad tracks onto spoils cars on parallel tracks, and hauled out by locomotives. Most of the cars carrying the dirt spoils were wooden flat cars lined with steel floors that used a crude but effective unloading device—the Lidgerwood system. The railroad cars had only one side and steel aprons bridged the spaces between the cars. The rock and dirt was first blasted loose by explosives. Two sets of tracks were then built or moved up to where the loosened material lay. The steam shovels, moving on one set of tracks, picked up the loosened dirt and then piled it on the steel-floored flat cars traveling on a parallel set of tracks. The dirt was piled high up against the one closed side of the car. The train moved forward as the cars were filled until all cars were filled. A typical train had twenty dirt cars arranged as essentially one long gondola car. On arrival of the train at one of the approximately 60 different dumping grounds, a three-ton steel plow was put on the last car (or a car carrying the plow was attached as the last car) and a huge winch with a braided steel cable stretching the length of all cars was attached to the engine. The winch, powered by the train’s steam engine, pulled the plow the length of the dirt-loaded train by winching up the steel cable. The plow scraped the dirt off the railroad cars, allowing the entire train-load of dirt cars to be unloaded in about ten minutes or less. The plow and winch were then detached for use on another train. Another plow, mounted on a steam engine, then plowed the dirt spoils away from the track.[21] When the fill got large enough, the track was relocated on top of the old fill to allow almost continuous unloading of new fill with a minimum amount of effort. When the steam shovels or dirt trains needed to move to a new section, techniques were developed by William Bierd, former head of the Panama Railroad, to pick up large sections of track and their attached ties by large steam-powered cranes and relocate them intact—without disassembling and rebuilding the track. A dozen men could move a mile of track a day—the work previously done by up to 600 men. This allowed the tracks used by both the steam shovels and dirt trains to be quickly moved to wherever they needed to go. While constructing the Gaillard Cut, about 160 loaded dirt trains went out of the cut daily, and returned empty—one train about every one and a half minutes of the day.
The railroads, steam shovels, enormous steam-powered cranes, rock crushers, cement mixers, dredges, and pneumatic power drills used to drill holes for explosives (about 30,000,000 pounds (14,000 t) were used) were some of the new (in 1906) pieces of construction equipment used to construct the canal. Nearly all this new equipment was built by new, extensive machine building technology developed and built in the United States by companies such as the Joshua Hendy Iron Works. In addition, the canal used large refrigeration systems for making ice, extensive large electrical motors to power the pumps and controls on the canal's locks and other new technology. They built extensive electrical generation and distribution systems—one of the first wide-scale uses of large electrical motors and generators.[22] Electrical-powered donkey engines pulled the ships through the locks on railroad tracks laid parallel to the locks. New technology, not available before, allowed massive earth cuts and fills to be used on the new railroad and canal that were many times larger than those done in the original 1851–1855 railroad construction. The Americans replaced the old French equipment with machinery designed for a larger scale of work (such as the giant hydraulic crushers supplied by the Joshua Hendy Iron Works) to quicken the pace of construction.[12] President Roosevelt had the former French machinery minted into medals for all workers who spent at least two years on the construction to commemorate their contribution to the building of the canal. These medals featured Roosevelt's likeness on the front, the name of the recipient on one side, and the worker's years of service, as well as a picture of the Culebra Cut on the back.[23]
In 1907, when John Frank Stevens resigned, Roosevelt appointed U.S. Army Colonel George Washington Goethals as Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal.
Ellicott Dredges, a Baltimore, Maryland, USA company formerly known as the Ellicott Machine Company, built the cutter dredges used in some of the construction of the Panama Canal after the cuts were deep enough to float them.[24] The first machine delivered was a steam-driven, 900 hp (670 kW), 20-inch dredge. In 1941, Ellicott Dredges also built the dredge MINDI, a 10,000 hp (7,500 kW), 28-inch cutter suction dredge still operating in the Panama Canal.
The building of the canal was completed in 1914, two years ahead of the target date of June 1, 1916. The canal was formally opened on August 15, 1914 with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon.[25] Coincidentally, this was also the same month that fighting in World War I (the Great War) began in Europe. The advances in hygiene resulted in a relatively low death toll during the American construction; still, about 5,600 workers died during this period (1904–1914). This brought the total death toll for the construction of the canal to around 27,500.[26]
By the 1930s it was seen that water supply would be an issue for the canal; this prompted the building of the Madden Dam across the Chagres River above Gatun Lake. The dam, completed in 1935, created Madden Lake (later Alajuela Lake), which acts as additional water storage for the canal.[27] In 1939, construction began on a further major improvement: a new set of locks for the canal, large enough to carry the larger warships which the United States was building at the time and had 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.[28][29]
After the war, U.S. control of the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it became contentious as relations between Panama and the U.S. became increasingly tense. Many Panamanians felt that the Canal Zone rightfully belonged to Panama; student protests were met by the fencing in of the zone and an increased military presence.[30] The unrest culminated in riots in which approximately 20 Panamanians and 3–5 U.S. soldiers were killed on Martyr's Day, January 9, 1964. Negotiations toward a new settlement began in 1974, and resulted in the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. Signed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos of Panama on September 7, 1977, 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.
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 concern whose owner is Li Ka Shing.
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 Pacific end to the Atlantic is as follows:[31]
Thus, the total length of the canal is 77.1 km (47.9 mi).
| Point | Coordinates (links to map & photo sources) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Entrance | ||
| Gatún Locks | ||
| Trinidad Turn | ||
| Bohío Turn | ||
| Orchid Turn | ||
| Frijoles Turn | ||
| Barbacoa Turn | ||
| Mamei Turn | ||
| Gamboa Reach | ||
| Bas Obispo Reach | ||
| Las Cascadas Reach | ||
| Empire Reach | ||
| Culebra Reach | ||
| Cucaracha Reach | ||
| Paraiso Reach | ||
| Pedro Miguel Locks | ||
| Miraflores Lake | ||
| Miraflores Locks | ||
| Balboa Reach | ||
| Pacific Entrance |
The size of the locks determines the maximum size of ships allowed passage. Because of the importance of the canal to international trade, many ships are built to the maximum size allowed. These are known as Panamax vessels.
Initially the locks at Gatun had been designed to be 28.5 meters (94 ft) wide. In 1908 the United States Navy requested that width be increased to at least 36 meters (118 ft) which would allow the passage of U.S. naval ships. Eventually a compromise was made and the locks were built 33.53 meters (110.0 ft) wide. Each lock is 320 meters (1,050 ft) long with the walls ranging in thickness from 15 meters (49 ft) at the base to 3 meters (9.8 ft) at the top. The central wall between the parallel locks at Gatún is 18 meters (59 ft) thick and stands in excess of 24 meters (79 ft) high. The steel lock gates measure an average of 2 meters (6.6 ft) thick, 19.5 meters (64 ft) wide and 20 meters (66 ft) high.[32] It is the size of the locks, specifically the Pedro Miguel Locks, along with the height of the Bridge of the Americas at Balboa, that determine the Panamax metric and limit the size of ships that may use the Canal.
The 2006 Third lock lane project will create larger locks, and deeper and wider channels, allowing bigger ships to transit. The allowed dimensions of ships will increase by 25% in length, 51% in beam, and 26% in draft, as defined by New Panamax.[33]
Tolls for the canal are decided by the Panama Canal Authority and are based on vessel type, size, and the type of cargo carried.[34]
For container ships, the toll is assessed per the ship's capacity expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units or TEUs. One TEU is the size of a container measuring 20 feet (6.1 m) by 8 feet (2.44 m) by 8.5 feet (2.6 m). Effective May 1, 2009, this toll is US$72.00 per TEU. 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 May 1, 2009[update], the ballast rate is US$57.60 per TEU.
Passenger vessels in excess of 30,000 tons (PC/UMS), known popularly as cruise ships, 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 is currently $92 for unoccupied berths and $115 for occupied berths. Started in 2007, this charge has greatly increased tolls for such vessels.[35] Passenger vessels of less than 30,000 tons or with less than 33 tons per passenger are charged on the same "per-ton" schedule as freighters.[36]
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 2008[update], this toll is US$3.90 per ton for the first 10,000 tons, US$3.19 per ton for the next 10,000 tons, and US$3.82 per ton for the next 10,000 tons, and US$3.76 per ton thereafter. As with container ships, a reduced toll is charged for freight ships "in ballast".
Small 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 :
| Length of vessel | Toll |
|---|---|
| Up to 15.240 meters (50 ft) | US$1,300 |
| More than 15.240 meters (50 ft) up to 24.384 meters (80 ft) | US$1,400 |
| More than 24.384 meters (80 ft) up to 30.480 meters (100 ft) | US$1,500 |
| More than 30.480 meters (100 ft) | US$2,400 |
The most expensive regular toll for canal passage to date was charged on May 16, 2008 to the Disney Magic, which paid US$331,200.[37][38] The least expensive toll was 36 cents to American adventurer Richard Halliburton, who swam the canal in 1928.[39] 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,[40] bypassing a 90-ship queue waiting for the end of maintenance works on the Gatun locks, thus avoiding a seven-day delay. The normal fee would have been just US$13,430.[41]
Ninety-seven years since its opening, the canal continues to enjoy great success. Even though world shipping—and the size of ships themselves—has changed markedly since the canal was designed, it continues to be a vital link in world trade, carrying more cargo than ever before, with fewer overhead costs. Nevertheless, the canal faces a number of potential problems.
There were fears that efficiency and maintenance would suffer following the U.S. withdrawal; however, this does not appear to have been the case. Capitalizing on practices developed during the American administration, canal operations are improving under Panamanian control.[42] Canal Waters Time (CWT), the average time it takes a vessel to navigate the canal, including waiting time, is a key measure of efficiency; according to the ACP, since 2000, it has oscillated between 20 and 30 hours. The accident rate has also not changed appreciably in the past decade, varying between 10 and 30 accidents each year across approximately 14,000 total annual transits.[43][44][45] An official accident is one in which a formal investigation is requested and conducted.
Increasing volumes of imports from Asia which previously landed on the U.S. west-coast ports are now passing through the canal to the American east coast.[46] The total number of oceangoing 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 to September).[47] This has been coupled with a steady rise in average ship size and in the numbers of Panamax vessels passing, so that the total tonnage carried rose from 227.9 million PC/UMS tons in fiscal year 1999 to a record high of 312.9 million tons in 2007, falling to 299.1 million tons in 2009.[4][47][48] Despite the reduction in total transits due to the negative impact of vessel size (e.g., the inability of large vessels to pass each other in the Gaillard Cut), this represents significant overall growth in canal capacity.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has invested nearly US$1 billion in widening and modernising the canal, with the aim of increasing capacity by 20%.[49] The ACP cites a number of major improvements, including the widening and straightening of the Gaillard 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 of 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%. In addition, improvements have been made to the operating machinery of the canal, including an increased and improved tug locomotive fleet, the replacement of more than 16 km 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.[50]
In December 2010, record breaking rain totals caused a 17-hour closure of the canal; this was the first closure since the American invasion in 1989.[51][52] Also, an access road to the Centenario bridge collapsed.[53][54][55][56]
The canal is presently handling 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;[57] as noted above, canal traffic in 2009 consisted of 299.1 million tons of shipping.
To improve capacity, a number of improvements have been imposed on the current canal system. These improvements aim to maximise the possible use of current locking system:[58]
These improvements will enlarge the capacity from 280–290 million PCUMS (2008) to 330–340 PCUMS (2012).
Despite having enjoyed a privileged position for many years, the canal is increasingly facing competition from other quarters. Because canal tolls are expected to rise, some critics[59] have suggested that the Suez Canal may become a viable alternative for cargo en route from Asia to the U.S. east coast. 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" (the route from Asia to the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts via the Panama Canal).
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 at some point in the future. 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.[60]
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 (26,700,000 US gal; 22,200,000 imp gal) per lock-cycle going downwards. Since a ship will have to go upward to Lake Gatun 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 the amount of water.[39][61] During the dry season, when there is less rainfall, there is also a shortfall of water in Gatun Lake.
As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the ACP has developed an environmentally and socially sustainable program for expansion, which will protect the aquatic and terrestrial resources of the Canal Watershed. After completion, expansion will guarantee the availability and quality of water resources by using unique water-saving basins at each new lock. These water-saving basins will diminish water loss and preserve freshwater resources along the waterway by reusing water from the basins into the locks. Each lock chamber will have three water-saving basins, which will 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.
The Pacific side sea level is about 20 centimeters (8 inches) higher than that of the Atlantic side due to differences in ocean conditions such as water densities and weather conditions.[62]
As demand is rising, 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 post-Panamax ships—will necessitate changes to the canal if it is to retain a significant market share. It is anticipated that by 2011, 37% of the world's container ships will 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 present canal, given some relatively minor improvement work, is estimated at between 330 and 340 million PC/UMS tons per year; it is anticipated that this capacity will be reached between 2009 and 2012. Close to 50% of transiting vessels are already using the full width of the locks.[63]
An enlargement scheme similar to the 1939 Third Lock Scheme, to allow for a greater number of transits and the ability to handle larger ships, has been under consideration for some time,[64] has been approved by the government of Panama,[65] and is in progress, with completion expected in 2014.[66] The cost is estimated at US$5.25 billion, and the project will double the canal's capacity and allow more traffic and the passage of longer and wider ships. This proposal to expand the canal was approved in a national referendum by approximately 80% on October 22, 2006.[67]
The current plan is for two new flights of locks to be built parallel to, and operated in addition to, the old locks: one to the east of the existing Gatún locks, and one south west of Miraflores locks, each supported by approach channels. Each flight will ascend from ocean level direct to the Gatún Lake level; the existing two-stage ascent at Miraflores / Pedro Miguel will not be replicated. The new lock chambers will feature sliding gates, doubled for safety, and will be 427 meters (1,400 ft) long, 55 meters (180 ft) wide, and 18.3 meters (60 ft) deep; this will allow the transit of vessels with a beam of up to 49 meters (160 ft), an overall length of up to 366 meters (1,200 ft) and a draft of up to 15 meters (50 ft), equivalent to a container ship carrying around 12,000 twenty-foot (6.1 m) long containers (TEU).
The new locks will be supported by new approach channels, including a 6.2 km (3.9 mi) channel at Miraflores from the locks to the Gaillard Cut, skirting around Miraflores Lake. Each of these channels will be 218 meters (715 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 Gatún Lake will be widened to no less than 280 meters (918 ft) on the straight portions and no less than 366 meters (1,200 ft) on the bends. The maximum level of Gatún Lake will be raised from reference height 26.7 meters (87.5 ft) to 27.1 meters (89 ft).
Each flight of locks will be accompanied by nine water reutilization basins (three per lock chamber), each basin being approximately 70 meters (230 ft) wide, 430 meters (1410 ft) long and 5.50 meters (18 ft) deep. These gravity-fed basins will allow 60% of the water used in each transit to be reused; the new locks will consequently use 7% less water per transit than each of the existing lock lanes. The deepening of Gatún Lake, and the raising of its maximum water level, will also provide significant extra water storage capacity. These measures are intended to allow the expanded canal to operate without the construction of new reservoirs.
The estimated cost of the project is US$5.25 billion. The project is 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 approximately 600 million PC/UMS tons per year. Tolls will continue to be calculated based on vessel tonnage, and will not depend on the locks used.
The new locks are expected to open for traffic in 2015. The present locks, which will be 100 years old by that time, will then have greater access for maintenance, and are projected to continue operating indefinitely.[63] An article in the February 2007 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine describes the plans for the canal, focusing on the engineering aspects of the expansion project.[68] There is also a follow-up article in the February 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine.[69]
On September 3, 2007, thousands of Panamanians stood across from Paraíso Hill in Panama to witness a huge explosion and the launch of the Expansion Program. The first phase of the project will be dry excavations of the 218 meter (715 ft) wide trench connecting the Culebra Cut with the Pacific coast, removing 47 million cubic meters of earth and rock.[70]
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 Cusa, had been awarded the contract to build the six new locks. The contract will result in $100 million in dredging works over the next few years for the company, and a great deal of work for the company's construction division. The design of the locks is a carbon copy of the Berendrecht lock which is 68m wide and 500m long, making it the largest lock in the world. 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.[71]
China is looking into constructing a 220 km railway between Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts.[72][73][74][75]
During the last one hundred years, the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá has appointed a few "Panama Canal Honorary Pilots". The most recent of these were Commodore Ronald Warwick,[76] a former Master of the Cunard Line's RMS Queen Mary 2, who has traversed the Canal more than 50 times, and Captain Raffaele Minotauro, Master Senior Grade, of the former Italian governmental navigation company known in the shipping world as the "Italian Line.
Created in 1913 by the damming of the Charges River, Gatun Lake is an essential part of the Panama Canal which forms a water passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, permitting ship transit in both directions. At the time it was formed Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world. The impassable rain-forest around Gatun Lake has been the best defense of the Panama Canal. Today these areas have endured practically unscathed by human interference and are one of the few accessible areas on earth that various native Central American animal and plant species can be observed undisturbed in their natural habitat. World famous Barro Colorado Island, which was established for scientific study when the lake was formed and is today operated by the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest island on Gatun Lake. Many of the most important ground breaking scientific and biological discoveries of the tropical animal and plant kingdom originated here. Lake Gatun encompasses approximately 180 square miles (470 km2), a vast tropical ecological zone part of the Atlantic Forest Corridor and Eco-tourism on Gatun Lake has become a worthwhile industry for Panamanians.
Gatun Lake also serves to provide the millions of gallons of water necessary to operate the Panama Canal locks each time a ship passes through and provides drinking water for Panama City and Colon. Angling is one of the primary recreational pursuits on Gatun Lake. It is suspected that the Cichla Pleiozona species of Peacock Bass was introduced by accident to Gatun Lake by a renowned Panamanian aquarist and doctor in 1958. Locally called Sargento these peacock bass are not a native game fish of Panama but originate from the Amazon, Rio Negro and Orinoco river basins of South America where they are called Tucanare or Pavon and are considered a premier game fish. Since 1958 the Cichla Pleiozona species of Peacock Bass have flourished to become the dominant angling game fish in Gatun Lake.
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||