Controlling the water level
Inside of one of the lock gates
Transiting the Panama Canal makes me marvel at the ingenuity, hard labor and technology that made this possible. Since ships are getting bigger and carrying much heavier loads, it's necessary to enlarge the existing canal system. This will be done by adding two new sets of locks beside the existing ones, one set on the east side of the Gatun Locks (Atlantic side) and the other on the south-western side of the Miraflores Locks.
It will be necessary to deepen the inlets into the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, to build new access channels to the existing sea entrances, and to raise the level of Gatun Lake. In 1939 work was begun to build a third canal, but it stopped in 1942 when the U.S. entered WW II. Much of this excavation will be utilized for today's construction of the new locks and access channels.
We were able to see dredging and digging activity as we passed through the canal, and watched the efficiency of the barges as they removed the dirt and rocks, and were immediately replaced with an empty barge so there was no break in the work. The project is due to be completed in 2014.
The new locks will be much longer and wider than the existing ones, and will use rolling gates instead of miter gates, and tugboats will be used to position vessels instead of locomotives or "mules". These technologies are well-proven in locks of similar dimensions.
Webcams are situated at the Miraflores Locks and Gatun Locks, and my sister took this shot of our ship passing through the Miraflores Locks (at 4 a.m. California time!!). Unfortunately she wasn't able to see me waving my gold top hat for almost an hour, which raised eyebrows on my fellow passengers! The website is http://www.pancanal.com/ and it has a lot of information on the canal.
Easy-to-use - the roll up gates are often designed to be simple to lift and lower without too much man-handling, and might also feature a pull notch or lift bar to assist with this.
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