Panama

The Panama Canal - An Overview

• The Panama Canal is considered one of the engineering wonders of the world, its true wonder lies in its contribution to world trade and shipping.



• Just 50 miles (80 kilometers) long, this shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans allows more than 14,000 vessels ferrying nearly 280 million tonnes of trade goods between the Eastern and Western nations to pass each year.



• The Panama Canal has three sets of locks – Gatun, Pedro Miguel and Miraflores – each of which has two lanes. These locks serve as lifts, elevating vessels 85 feet above sea level from the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans to Gatun Lake.



• Fed by gravity from Gatun Lake into each set of locks, the water enters the locks’ chambers through a system of drains that extends under every lock chamber from the center and side walls.



• An average of 55 million gallons of fresh water is used, and takes about eight minutes to fill each chamber. After sailing through the Continental Divide, vessels are again lowered to sea level on the opposite side of the Isthmus of Panama.