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PANAMA CANALBy : -02- Thoufique Salik08- Prashant Verma INTRODUCTIONPanama Canal is a 48-mile (77.1km)ship canalinPanamathat connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.It connects via Caribbean Sea.The canal cuts across theIsthmus of Panama.Key conduit for international maritime trade.Panama Canal Project was started in1881 by France, but had to stop because of engineering problems and high mortality due to disease.Later US took the project and took the decade to complete in 1914.Original Owner - La Socit internationale du Canal.Principal Engineer - John Findlay Wallace,John Frank Stevens(19061908),George Washington Goethals.INTRODUCTIONIt was constructed to enabling ships to avoid the lengthy Cape Hornroute around the southernmost tip ofSouth America(via theDrake Passage) or to navigate theStrait of Magellan.One of the largest and most difficult engineering Project ever Undertaken.The largest ships that can transit the canal today are calledPanamax.TheAmerican Society of Civil Engineershas named the Panama Canal one of theseven wonders of the modern world.

PROFILE OF PANAMA CANAL

Gatun Locks

GATUN LOCKSIt is a lock system, lifts the ship 26 mtrs high.Having total 6 steps. Three ups and 3 downs.Total length including approach wall is 3 kms.

6Pennell proceeded to the Gatun locks where he sketched the towering 85-foot gates leading to the three locks - each were a mile long and about 90 feet deep. This sketch was drawn at the bottom of Gatun Lock. The photo is the East chamber of the Lock taken in 1912.The Culebra Cut at Las Cascadas

CULEBRA CUTThe next excavation was the Culebra Cut an incision into Panama that extended for nine miles and ended at Gatun Lake 7The next excavation was the Culebra Cut an incision into Panama that extended for nine miles and ended at Gatun Lake - the largest artificial lake in the world until the creation of Lake Mead. This sketch on the left is of the Culebra Cut at Bas Obispo and illustrated the bottom of the cut. The Cut at Las Cascadas was drawn from above the cut and illustrates the various levels of the excavations. GATUN LAKEAt the time of creation it was largest artificial lake. It is of 32 km in length.Created between 1907-14 by the building of theGatun Damacross theChagres Rive.

Gatun lake8This drawing provides a pictorial perspective of the land that is now underwater and part of Gatun Lake. It is taken from the town of Culebra, looking toward the Atlantic Ocean. The photo is a current picture of a ship going through the lake.MIRAFLORES LOCKis the name of one of the threelocksthat form part of thePanama Canal.In this lock , vessels are lifted (or lowered) 54 feet (16.5m) in two stages, allowing them to transit to or from thePacific Oceanport ofBalboa(nearPanama City).

Miraflores lock9The next destination was the Miraflores Locks. These two locks, the closest to the Pacific Ocean, are shown in the background of the sketch entitled, Building Miraflores Lock. All the foreground was filled in by Miraflores Lake. The photo is a southern view of the Miraflores Locks taken in 1912.

CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILSConstruction costs = approximately $352 million

Paid to panama = $10 million paid to French company = $40 million,

money previously invested by the French = $287 million

the total expenditures were about $639 million.

DIFFICULTIES FACED DURING CONSTRUCTION:1. Disease : Yellow Fever, Malaria2. Excavation: where to put the dirt, and how to get it there3. Canal Design: sea level or lock and dam4. Political Intrigue: who's country is this anyway?5. Manpower: who's gonna work under these conditions?6. Financing: what comes after a billion?7. Logistics: material and equipment on an unprecedented scale.8. Military Applications: build forts and make sure the battleships will fit. BENEFITS

The Panama Canal helped the import and export of goods. This created jobs. Trading helped to increase the economy. Travel became easier and faster.environmental contribution.Saving Time.Experiencing Physics.Affordability.

PANAMA CANAL EXPANSION The expansion of thePanama Canal is a project that will double the capacity of the Panama Canal by 2015.Construction of twolockcomplexesone each on the Atlantic and Pacific sideseach 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; andDeepening of the navigation channels and the elevation ofGatun Lakes maximum operating level

CARGO VOLUME

cargo volume transiting the canal will grow at an average of 3 percent per year, doubling the 2005 tonnage by 2025.According to the analysis conducted by ACP and some Shipping experts the canal expansion would be beneficial to both the canal and its users.

COMPETITIONNorthwest Passage

Current competitors of the Panama Canal are the U.S.intermodalsystem and theSuez Canal.

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