Presented by :-

Jai nagawat Indore , India

The Panama Canal Engineering Wonder of 20th Century

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers“The canal remains a testament to the combined

skills of structural, geotechnical, hydraulic and sanitary engineers.”

The Panama Canal: “A Wonder of Work”

                                                                                              

              

Joseph Pennell

“I looked down into a yawning gulf stretching to right and left, the bottom filled with crowds of tiny men and tiny trains … Overhead, huge iron buckets flew to and fro, great cranes raised or lowered huge masses of material…As I looked a bell rang, the men dropped their tools, and lines of little figures marched away, or climbed wooden stairs and iron ladders to the surface… It was perfect, the apotheosis of the Wonder of Work…”

Case Study of U.S. Policy and Problems to be Overcome

1.Political Problems

2.Geographical Problems

3.Other Natural Problems

Political Problem -Gran Columbia

In the 1820s, at the time of initial American interest in the Panama Canal, Panama was part of Gran Colombia.

Panama

Geographical Problems

Three major geographical problems:

1. complex mountain range formation;

2. tropical jungles; and

3. complex topography

Complex Mountain Range Formation

Tropical Jungles

Tropical jungles with an average annual rainfall of 105 inches and average temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit

Complex Topography

The Other Natural Problem: Disease - the “killer” obstacle

Facts and Figures

• Construction began 1904 • Opened Aug. 15, 1914• 50 Miles long deep water to deep water• Average depth 43 feet• Width varies between 500 to 1000 feet• 14000 vessels pass every year• Average of 8 to 10 hour journey • Travel time from NYC to San Francisco 6000 miles

compared to 14000 taking route around Cape Horn• Tolls based on tonnage of the vessel

•From the Atlantic Ocean the Panama Canal runs south for ten miles (17 km) and then eastward to the Pacific Ocean.

•The total soil excavated from the canal would build a pyramid 4,200 feet (1,280 meters) high.

•During the construction engineers working on the project earned from $225 to $600 per month. Physicians earned from $150 to $300.

•The project consumed as much as twelve million pounds of dynamite per year.

•Gatun Lake, the highest part of the canal, is about 85 feet (26 meters) above sea level.

•The Commissary Department provided food for the entire work force and baked as many as six million loaves of bread, 650,000 rolls, and 114,000 pounds of cake per year.

•It took nine hours and forty minutes for the passage of the first ship through the canal. The average is 8-10 hours.

•When the canal opened tolls were set at $1.20 per ton for freight and $1.50 per ton for passengers. A freighter carrying a cargo of 4,500 tons paid a toll of $5,400.

•When the Panama Canal opened to traffic, the United States had spent $352 million.

Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty

•Signed on November 18, 1903

•Granted U.S. control over Panama Canal

for a price

•Negotiated by Phillipe Bunau-Varilla and U.S. Secretary of

State John Hay

U.S Canal construction

•Began in 1904

•Employed thousands of Panamanians and

U.S. construction companies

•First ship traveled thru the canal in

1914

•Officially finished in 1915

Layout of Canal• Consists of artificial

lakes (Miraflores, Gatun)and channels and three sets of locks

• Additional artificial lake, Alajuela Lake, acts as a reservoir for the canal

• Chagres River is dammed by the Gatun Dam and forms Gatun Lake-it drains northwest into the Caribbean Sea

Gatun Dam• Constructed 1907-

1913• Impounds Gatun Lake • Hydro-electric

generating station generates electricity

• Electricity used to operate the locks and other equipment in the canal

How Locks Work/Design• Three sets of the two lane Canal work as water elevators to lift the

ships to the level of the Gatun Lake • Set of lanes can accommodate traffic on opposite or same direction• No pumps used to lift the ships, the work is done by a force of gravity• Later lower the ships back to sea level on the other side of the

Isthmus of Panama• Electric locomotive on the side provides complete control of

movement of vessels• All operations accomplished from a control house built on the center

wall of the upper lock chamber.• Single person can run every operation in the passage of the ship

except for the towing

• .

Gatun Dam Spillway Construction

Canal Lock Gate Under Construction

• Panama Canal is an 82-kilometre (51 mi) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to 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, making it no longer necessary for ships to sail the lengthy Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America and to navigate the dangerous waters of the Strait of Magellan.

Pennel began his artistic journal through the Canal from the Atlantic Ocean at Colon where American Canal employees lived in wooden bungalows. According to Pennell, the bungalows were “…built of wood, painted white, and completely screened with wire gauze, rusted black by the dampness, a protection from mosquitoes and other beasts, bugs, and vermin.”

Colon

Gatun Locks

The Guard Gate, Gatun

Pennell noted the “magnificent arrangements” of the Gatun gates. He wrote: “I have never seen such a magnificent arrangement of line, light and mass…great work is great art, and always was and will be. This is the Wonder of Work.”

Construction of Gatun Lock

The Culebra Cut at Bas Obispo

The Culebra Cut at Las Cascadas

Gatun Lake

                                                                                                                        

Pedro Miguel Locks

Pennell was also impressed with the walls of the Pedro Miguel Locks

Miraflores Locks

Pennell was fascinated by the giant cranes at Miraflores Locks.

The entrance to the Pacific Ocean at Panama City

Panama City

“The Kiss of Oceans”

The Canal opened for operation in 1914, completing what one artist called the “Kiss of Oceans.”

Bridge of the Americas

Bridge of the Americas

• Puente de Las Américas (In Spanish).• The Bridge of the Americas is approximately 354 ft.

high and 5,400 ft. long, and connects the land that was divided during the construction of the Panama Canal(as well as north and south America). The Bridge of the Americas crosses the Pacific approach to the Panama Canal at Balboa, near Panama City and serves as an important part of the Inter-American Highway.

• -Originally known as the Thatcher Ferry Bridge, is a road bridge in Panama, which spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.

• -Completed in 1962, costing $20 million, it was the only non-swinging bridge (there are two other bridges, one at the Miraflores locks and one at the Gatun locks)

Centennial Bridge

Centennial Bridge

• (Spanish: Puente Centenario) A major bridge crossing the Panama Canal. It

was built to supplement the overcrowded Bridge of the Americas, and to replace it as the carrier of the Pan-American Highway; upon its opening in 2004, it became only the second permanent crossing of the canal.

• The bridge is cable-stayed ,meaning it’s a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge, the cables are made nearly parallel by attaching cables to various points on the tower.

• It’s designed with a total span of 1,052 m (3,451 ft). The main span is 320 m (1,050 ft), and clears the canal by 80 m (262 ft), allowing large vessels to pass below it.

• The bridge is supported by two towers, each 184 m (604 ft)

high. The deck carries six lanes of traffic across the canal.

The bridge is designed to withstand the earthquake.• The West Tower of the bridge was built ca. 50m inland to allow

space for the future widening of the Panama Canal.

Expansion efforts

• Panamanian President Martín Torrijos presented the plan on April 24, 2006. Saying that The project will double the canal's capacity and allow more traffic

• Panamanian citizens approved it in a national referendum by 76.8% of the vote on October 22, 2006.

• The first phase of the expansion project is the 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.

• The project will create a new lane of traffic along the Canal by constructing a new set of locks. Details of the project include the following integrated components:

• Construction of two lock complexes—one on the Atlantic side and another on the Pacific side—each with three chambers, which include three water-saving basins;

• Excavation of new access channels to the new locks and the widening of existing navigational channels; and,

• Deepening of the navigation channels and the elevation of Gatun Lake’s maximum operating level.

Expansion Construction Photos

Objectives of the expansion

• (1) achieve long-term sustainability and growth for the Canal’s contributions to Panamanian society through the payments it makes to the National Treasury

• (2)maintain the Canal’s competitiveness as well as the value added by Panama’s maritime route to the national economy.

• (3) increase the Canal’s capacity to capture the growing tonnage demand with the appropriate levels of service for each market segment.

• (4) make the Canal more productive, safe and efficient.

Estimated time/cost

• The construction of the third set of locks project will take between seven to eight years. The new locks could begin operations between fiscal years 2014 and 2015.

• The construction cost of the third set of locks is estimated at approximately $5,250 million.($5.2 Billion)

1909 Lock Construction

The American expenditures from 1904 to 1914 totaled $352,000,000, far more than the cost of anything built by the United States Government up to that time. In today’s money it would cost $7,448,028,707.72

Panama Canal

At the Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side, workers poured enough concrete to build a wall 8' wide, 12' high, and 133 miles long. They built culverts the size of railroad tunnels to channel water from Gatun Lake into the locks.

Panama Canal

By August 15, 1914 the Panama Canal was officially opened by the passing of the SS Ancon.

Panama CanalMap of the Panama Canal

Figure 3: A map showing the route of the completed canal. A series of "locks" are used to control the water level within the canal.

Technological Fact #1

Upon the Canal’s completion, a ship traveling from New York to San Francisco saved 7,872 miles by using the Panama Canal instead of going around South America. The average time spent in transit from port to port is approx. 8 - 10 hours.

Technological Fact #2

Between 1904 and 1913, a total of 56,307 people worked on the construction of the waterway. Of these, 11,873 were Europeans, 31,071 were from the various Caribbean nations, 11,000 were American, and 69 were not classified.

Technological Fact #3

Construction costs for the Canal reached approximately $352 million. When including the $10 million paid to Panama, the $40 million paid to the French company, and the money previously invested by the French, the total expenditures were about $639 million.

Technological Fact #4

During the US construction period, 232 million cubic yards of earth were removed. This quantity, added to the 30 million removed by the French, provide an approximate of 262 million total cubic yards of earth. How to dispose of the excavated material was an important aspect of the excavation.

Technological Fact #5

Millions of cubic yards were deposited in the jungles of Panama. The biggest dumps were in Miraflores, Gatun, Tabernilla and Balboa.

Technological Fact #6

The highest Canal toll ever recorded by $ 141,344.91 paid by the Crown Princess and the lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents by Richard Halliburton for swimming the Canal in 1928.

Technological Fact #7

By 2006, the Panama Canal was maxed out. In October, the country's voters approved a $5.25 billion plan to expand and modernize the canal. The project will include:

• two new sets of single-lane, three-step locks — one set at the Atlantic entrance and one at the Pacific;

• two new navigational channels to connect the new locks to existing channels; and

• deeper, wider versions of existing shipping lanes.

Tight Fit…

In the current canal locks, ships have a clearance of about 2 ft. on either side.

Updates on the Panama Canal began in 2007.

To connect those locks to existing shipping lanes, nearly 5 miles of channels will be excavated. The current route through Gatun Lake will also be deepened by 5 ft. and widened, from today’s 500 ft. minimum, to 920 ft. on straightaways and 1200 ft. in the turns. Gatun Lake will then be raised 1.5 ft., providing an extra 550 million gallons of water each day for the locks and alleviating concerns that canal expansion will tax water supplies.