PANAMA

CANAL
By : 02- Thoufique
Salik
08- Prashant
Verma

INTRODUCTION

Panama 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.

INTRODUCTION

It 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

It 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.

Gatun Locks

CULEBRA CUT

The next excavation was the Culebra Cut an

incision into Panama that extended for nine
miles and ended at Gatun Lake

The Culebra Cut at Las Cascadas

GATUN LAKE

At 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 lake

MIRAFLORES LOCK

is 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 lock

CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS

Construction 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, Malaria
2. Excavation: where to put the dirt, and how to get it
there
3. Canal Design: sea level or lock and dam
4. 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;
and
Deepening 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.

COMPETITION
Northwest Passage
Current competitors of the Panama Canal
U.S.intermodalsystem and theSuez Canal.

are

the

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