PANAMA CANAL

How Does the Panama Canal Works



How Does the Panama Canal Works

Introduction

The Panama Canal is shipping canal, which crosses the Isthmus of Panama in Central America, connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Its construction was one of the most difficult projects. The Panama Canal is 80 kilometres long from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. It was excavated in the narrowest part of the American continent and the lowest point of the Isthmus of Panama. The Canal runs from northwest to southeast, with the entrance of the Atlantic about 54 kilometres north and 43 kilometres west of the Pacific entrance. The distance by air between the two inputs is 69.1 kilometres.

The 81-kilometer-long Panama Canal bisects the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific. The transit time is about twelve hours. A swift and safe passage through the locks (called mules) by both sides mounted rack railways guaranteed (Parker, 1996).

Panama Canal serves as an important link for transportation and global trade. The Panama Canal is a canal with locks. The three sets of locks to two lanes that line the channel function as hydraulic lifts to allow ships to cross the mountainous region. During a lock, the room doors are closed so that water, through the force of gravity, changes from upstream or above the airlock hatch downstream or lower. The 197 million litres freshwater is necessary for this operation and is finally discharged into the sea.

Historic Background

The Panama Canal is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Only closed its doors to global trade twice, following the collapse of 1915 and December 20, 1989, during the invasion of the United States Panama. Despite its apparent complexity, the operation of the channel is a simple operation, thanks to the ingenuity and inventiveness of its directors (Keller, 1983). Each culvert has a set of five holes of 4.5 meters in diameter. The history of the construction of the Panama Canal is the saga of human ingenuity and courage, years of sacrifice, great losses and the final victory. Many people lost their lives in the effort. The Panama Canal has a length of 80 km between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

In 1878, the Colombian Congress grants to French company a concession for 99 years to build and manage a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. At a conference organized by the Geographical Society of Paris in 1879, Ferdinand de Lesseps decided the route to take to build the canal. The financial scandal and technical difficulties led the French company into bankruptcy.

The first city of Panama was founded in 1519, which became the first European trading post on the Pacific coast. It grows with the exploitation of the Inca Empire. The Emperor Charles V, recognizing the strategic and economic importance that meant the union of the two seas, ordered in 1534 the governor of Panama to study the realization of a link between the Chagres River and "South Sea" (Pacific ...