The Panama Canal
Being one of the smaller cruise ships that pass though the Panama Canal we hoped we would be traveling though the original locks which were completed in 1914. It was still dark outside as we approached the Panama Canal but we could tell it was the old locks which allowed us to see how these locks were constructed and the technology that continues to be used today to get ships though the canal. In front of us we could see another cruise ship, the Silver Dawn just entering the first lock.
As we approached the first lock we watched as the Silver Dawn went through the first lock into the second chamber. Ships go though 3 different chambers and rise a total of 85 feet to get to Lake Gatun , the man-made lake at the top of the canal.
Once the Silver Dawn moved into the second chamber, the first chamber emptied and the gates opened for our ship to enter the first chamber. As we moved forward the crew on our ship worked to connect with the drivers of the “mules” on shore which guided our ship inside the locks. It took about 2 hours for our ship to pass though the 3 locks to Lake Gatun.
Once into the lake through the initial set of locks we cruised on Lake Gatun for for about 3 hours to the other end of the lake where we experienced the trip through 2 more locks that took us back down to sea level. Part of the Lake Gatun was formed by blasting though rock using 60 million pounds of dynamite. We could see the terraced slopes built after the blasting to prevent mud slides. At the end of the final chamber we were disconnected from the mules and a tug boat guided us out into the Pacific Ocean..
There is a visitor center at the end of the canal where lots of people stand and watch ships go though the canal. When we passed the visitor area it was completely full of people viewing the passing ships.
The Panama Canala is considered a a marvel of human engineering but came at great cost. Some interesting facts about the Panama Canal.
Today there are 2 canals, one completed in 1913 and another, completed in\ 2016.. The new can anal can accommodate much larger ships.
The first attempt at creating the Panama Canal was made by France starting in 1881. It failed and more than 22,000 workers perished in the attempt.
The U.S. took over construction of the canal in 1904, completing it in 1914 but nearly 6,000 American workers died during the canal's construction.
Each lock chamber fills with 52 million gallons of water.
Roughly 40 ships transit the canal every day.
The 50-mile-long Panama Canal waterway has transformed global trade, saving ships thousands of miles and countless days of travel.