The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is still one of the engineering wonders of the modern
world. Even by today's standards it is awesome to see a container ship
gliding through massive locks and past a rain forest.
The possibilities of a waterway linking the Atlantic and the Pacific in
this region had been well appreciated for four centuries before anyone
started to gid. The Spain's King, Carlos V, ordered a survey of the
canal route in 1524 but it was presumably decided that cutlasses would
no be adequate for the job.
The French started a canal in 1880 under de Lesseps, builder of the Suez
Canal, but after 20 years of struggle with the jungle, desease, financial
problems and the sheer enormity of the project, they were forced to give up.
Picture of Guillard Cut in Panama Canal
In 1903, Panama secedde from Colombia and the United States signed a treaty
in which the concession for a public maritime transportation service accross
the Istmus was granted. The following year, the USA purchased the French Canal
Company properties for $40 million and began to dig.
On August 15, 1914, the US cargo ship "Ancon" made the first transit. Every
year, the Panama Canal is handling more than 13,056 bluewater ships, under
the flags of about 70 nations.
The average toll for ships using the canal is about $29,700 but many save
about ten times this figure by eliminating the journey round the Horn.
Records tolls are: Rapsody of the Seas which transited for $165,235.58 and
Mr. Richar Halliburton who swam the Canal in 1926 and was carged by $0.36
after displacement tonnage was calculated.
The canal is about 50 miles long and ships are lifted 58 feet in therr
lockages as they cross the Istmus. The journey through the Canal takes
about 8 hours and a ship is normally in canal waters between 14 and 16
hours.
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(C)opywrite Ing. Jose Agustin Rodriguez
E-Mail: ponzada@yahoo.com