I am the Panama Canal and Im located along the Isthmus of Panama.

Im 77 km long and very popular

for marine trade in Panama. The canal is connected to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. If a trip were
taken from one side to the other, it wouldnt be a straight trip through. There would be a few areas that
would be hit on the way. If entering on the Atlantic side, the first area is a 7 mile trip through a channel
in Limon Bay. You would then go a clear 11.5 miles before reaching the Gatun locks. There are 3 locks
that raise ships 26 meters to Gatun Lake. It goes clear for a pretty good distance again; 32 miles through
a channel in Gatun Lake. It then reaches Gamboa, where the Culebra Cut begins. This cut is 8 miles long
and 150 meters wide. You are almost at the end but you still have a few stops. The next is the locks at
Pedro Miguel. These locks lower ships 9.4 meters to a lake that leads to the Miraflores locks. These last
locks lower ships 16 meters to sea level and release them into the Pacific. Although I am such a great
canal today, the whole process of putting it together was not easy. About 25,000 people were killed in
the building process of my canal. The early French attempts caused a lot more trouble than when the
Americans worked on it. The French attempts caused approximately 20,000 deaths as compared to only
a little more the 5,000 Americans. Majority of these deaths were caused by disease or accidents. Yellow
Fever and Malaria were two of the top diseases that wiped out big populations before the 20th century
when medical experts gained control of the mosquito population. I have become very popular over the
years though. I average bringing in over 10,000 ships and almost 2 billion dollars a year. There are
usually between 13 and 14 thousand ships going through the canal every year however, there is a
charge. This charge varies on the size and amount of cargo on the ship. These fees can run as high as
$450,000 for one ship. Im not the same as I was when I was first built either. In 2007 there was a big
project that began. This was a $5.25 billion expansion project that will be able to handle post-panamax

ships. The plan is to have the renovations done by late 2015 but these changes will allow three times the
amount of cargo that is already carried. I have proven myself to be very efficient and not very
problematic. There is an average of between 10 and 30 accidents per year but that number is extremely
low when there are 14,000 ships going through the canal. I have also only been stopped once since 1989
when the U.S invaded Panama. The reason for this stopping was record rainfall in December of 2010.
Even then the canal I was still only closed for 17 hours. So in a final conclusion, the Panama Canal
connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and its one of the greatest things to happen. It has helped so
many people so much. The canal is very beneficial and very efficient for all.