| Panama Canal Canal de Panamá | |
|---|---|
 A schematic of the Panama Canal, illustrating the sequence of locks and passages | |
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| Coordinates | 9°7′12″N 79°45′0″W / 9.12000°N 79.75000°W |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 82 km (51 miles) |
| Maximum boat length | 366 m (1,200 ft 9 in) |
| Maximum boat beam | 49 m (160 ft 9 in) (originally 28.5 m or 93 ft 6 in) |
| Maximum boat draft | 15.2 m (50 ft) |
| Maximum boat air draft | 57.91 m (190.0 ft) |
| Locks | 3 locks up, 3 down per transit; all three lanes (3 lanes of locks) |
| Status | Opened in 1914; expansion opened 26 June 2016 |
| Navigation authority | Panama Canal Authority |
| History | |
| Principal engineer | Ferdinand de Lesseps (1881-1889), John Findley Wallace (1904–1905), John Frank Stevens (1905–1907), George Washington Goethals (1907–1914) |
| Construction began | 4 May 1904 |
| Date completed | 15 August 1914 |
| Date extended | 26 June 2016 |
| Geography | |
| Start point | Atlantic Ocean |
| End point | Pacific Ocean |
| Connects to | Pacific Ocean from Atlantic Ocean and vice versa |
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The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, cutting across the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming up the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200,000,000 L (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts.
The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage, the Strait of Magellan or the Beagle Channel. It is one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.
Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The US took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal in 1914. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the Panamanian government took control in 1999. It is now managed and operated by the Panamanian government-owned Panama Canal Authority.
The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide and allow the passage of Panamax ships. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, Neopanamax ships.
Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal.[1] In 2017, it took ships an average of 11.38 hours to pass between the canal's two outer locks. The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.[2]
- ^ "Panama Canal Traffic—Years 1914–2010". Panama Canal Authority. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ^ "Seven Wonders". American Society of Civil Engineers. Archived from the original on 2 August 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2011.