Iruni Kalupahana JadeTimes Staff
I. Kalupahana is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Technology
The Panama Canal is one of the most complex engineering tasks of the modern world, connecting the two large oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, through the Isthmus of Panama, cutting a path 77 kilometers long across the narrow strip of land. The idea of such a canal first appeared back in 1534 by King Charles I of Spain.
In 1788, U.S. The construction of the canal was also suggested by President Thomas Jefferson to avoid the hazardous journey around South America, which was long and dangerous because of treacherous waters and currents in the Strait of Magellan. The French began construction in 1881, but they then abandoned it due to massive financial setbacks and a high mortality rate among workers caused by diseases like malaria and yellow fever.
The U.S. took over the project in 1904, and with the application of new technologies, the canal was finally completed in 1914, offering a shortcut that revolutionized world trade by drastically reducing the travel time of ships between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Overcoming Challenges in Construction
The Panama Canal's construction was bedeviled with many problems, not least of which were technical and human. The French failure left behind a partly dug channel and a more significant public relations disaster. When the U.S. took over the task, they brought in advanced steam powered machinery and mechanized excavation techniques, significantly improving efficiency.
During the construction, more than 33 million cubic meters of earth were removed with the help of 102 steam shovels, hydraulic rock crushers, and dredges. The most important feature that made the canal work was Gatun Lake, formed by damming the Gatun River, which allowed ships to lift over the continental divide.
The canal is fitted with a system of locks, each lock is 33.5 meters wide the width sufficient to hold the widest ships of that time. Besides, the enormity of the work called for the mobilization of thousands of workers more than 75,000 laborers from all over the world, most of them were West Indian laborers who worked in comparatively harsh conditions.
The Expansion of the Panama Canal
This brought up the issue of capacity, as global shipping volumes increased and ships grew in size. Expansion through a second set of locks was inaugurated in 1939, however, the most recent, and largest, expansion has been the third set of locks that was inaugurated in 2016.
This expansion, also part of the "Third Set of Locks Project," involved the building of two new lock complexes, the Agua Clara and Cocoli locks, permitting the transit of ships too large for the size limitations of the original locks, known as "Panamax" ships. These new locks are 427 meters long, 55 meters wide, and 18 meters deep, capable of handling "New Panamax" ships that are up to 50% larger than the previous generation.
It also included deepening and widening parts of the canal, making it more efficient for modern shipping demands. It has been observed that this expansion allows vessels of up to 12,000 TEU, unlike before when 5,000 TEUs were the limit. Such upgrade has shaped global shipping routes, allowing more cargo to be moved, especially from Asia to the East Coast of the United States.
The Role of Lake Gatun in Canal Operations
Lake Gatun is considered vital to the working of the Panama Canal, it provides the water needed to operate the locks that raise the ships as they pass through the canal. The lake, artificially created by the Gatun Dam, is among the largest in the world. It measures around 425 square kilometers and lies 26 meters above sea level, which is considered the highest point of the canal.
Completed in 1913, the Gatun Dam regulates the water flowing into the canal to guarantee an efficient filling and emptying of the locks. This system requires a large amount of water, with each lock chamber using up to 26 million liters of water per cycle. Its water is constantly replenished by the Alajuela Lake and surrounding rivers.
The Panama Canal Railway also runs parallel to it and helps in the movement of goods that are too big to fit into the locks. In addition, water management by the canal has been fundamental to its ability to sustain a traffic increase and adapt to climatic changes so that shortage of water would not affect operations.
Panama’s Growing Importance in Global Trade
The Panama Canal has shaped the position of Panama in the global trade environment. When the expansion of the canal was finally completed in 2016, it allowed Panama to establish a much more important maritime role, connecting the continents of Asia, Europe, and the Americas more expeditiously than ever before.
Major port developments have been carried out on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the canal, enabling it to handle the still increasing volume of container traffic. Major transshipment facilities, like the Colon Container Port on the Caribbean side and the Panama International Terminal on the Pacific side, have enhanced Panama's position as one of the most important shipping and transshipment centers in the Western Hemisphere. There have been some bumps along the way, for example, the delayed construction of the Panama Colon Container Port, whose Chinese partner saw its agreement revoked because of non compliance.
The Corozal Container Terminal project, on the Pacific side, encountered problems after receiving no bidders. Despite these setbacks, Panama remains a key destination for major investment in port infrastructure as it positions itself to be a global player in shipping, especially because trade worldwide continues to rise.
