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The Panama Canal
About the Canal
How it Works
Canal Statistics
Panama Canal History
Beginnings
US Involvement
Construction
Completion
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How The Panama Canal Works
The canal consists of dredged approaches and three sets of locks at each
end; Gatún Lake, one of the largest artificially created bodies of water
in the world; and the excavated portion of the crossing, called Gaillard
Cut. At Gatún, on the Atlantic side, the locks form continuous steps; on
the Pacific side, a small lake (Miraflores) separates the middle and
upper locks.
Because the Isthmus of Panama extends east-west, a ship sailing from the
Atlantic to the Pacific through the canal actually travels from
northwest to southeast. To travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific, a
ship enters Limón Bay from the north and anchors behind a breakwater to
await scheduling of its passage. When ready, the canal authorities send
out a canal pilot to take the vessel through the locks. The canal
employs about 240 highly trained and experienced pilots to handle the
complex job of steering ships through the waterway. As soon as the pilot
takes over, the ship is under canal jurisdiction. Very large or
hard-to-maneuver ships may require two or more pilots and assistance
from tugboats.
The ship travels south-southeast about 11 km (7 mi) and enters the first
lock at Gatún. Line handlers at the lock attach steel mooring cables
that are controlled by powerful electric locomotives, called mules. The
mules guide the ship through the locks and steady it while the chambers
are filled with water. In three steps the ship is raised to the level of
Gatún Lake, 26 m (85 ft) above the sea.
The canal’s 12 locks (3 sets of double locks at each end) have the same
dimensions: 33.5 m (110 ft) wide by 305 m (1,000 ft) long. The gates at
each end are 2.1 m (7 ft) thick. Water enters and leaves each lock
through a system of main culverts or pipes, which connect to 100 holes
in the floor of each chamber. For each ship traveling through the canal,
197 million liters (52 million gallons) of fresh water are used, fed by
gravity flow from Gatún Lake. To conserve water, smaller ships often go
through the locks together.
At the top of the Gatún locks, the ship drops the mooring lines and
proceeds under its own power for 37 km (23 mi) through the lake,
following the former channel of the Chagres River. Gatún Dam, built
adjoining the locks, flooded the river basin and formed the lake, which
covers 430 sq km (166 sq mi). The flooding created a number of islands,
as the water covered all but the tops of hills. One of these islands,
Barro Colorado, is a wildlife refuge operated by the Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institute.
The waterway gradually narrows until the river turns to the east at
Gamboa, flowing under a bridge of the Panama Railroad. The canal’s
marine division, with cranes, dredges, tugs, and barges, is located at
Gamboa.
Lock A lock is a section of a waterway enclosed by gates at either end
to allow ships to be raised or lowered to a different water level. In
this example, a ship enters the upper level and the gates close behind
it. The water is then allowed to drain into the lower level, lowering
the water level of the lock and the ship. When the water level of the
lock equals the level of the lower canal, the lower gates will open and
the ship can proceed.© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
South from Gamboa, the canal follows a channel dug through the
mountains, which was the most difficult part of the construction
project. Called Gaillard Cut, this section measures 14 km (9 mi) and
traverses the Continental Divide, a ridge made of rock and shale.
Numerous landslides occurred both during and after construction,
requiring frequent dredging to keep the canal open. The channel through
the cut is 150 m (500 ft) wide, the narrowest part of the canal.
Originally only 91.5 m (300 ft), the cut was widened in phases beginning
in the 1930s to allow two-way traffic. In the 1990s it was enlarged even
more to accommodate larger ships.
At the southern end of Gaillard Cut, the ship slows and enters Pedro
Miguel locks. Again, cables and mules guide and steady the ship before
it is lowered 9.4 m (31 ft) to Miraflores Lake. The cables are released
and the ship crosses the lake, which is 2.1 km (1.3 mi) long and lies 16
m (54 ft) above sea level. The ship then enters the last two locks, also
named Miraflores, and is lowered to the level of the Pacific Ocean. The
final stretch of the canal carries the ship to the harbor of Balboa,
where the canal pilot leaves the vessel. The ship sails under the Bridge
of the Americas (formerly known as the Thatcher Ferry Bridge) and into
the Bay of Panama, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. Northbound ships anchor
in the Bay of Panama while waiting for their turn to travel through the
canal to the Atlantic.
The entire trip through the canal takes between 8 and 10 hours plus
waiting time. The canal operates 24 hours a day year-round. Each ship
that travels through the canal pays a toll based on its capacity.
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