Panama Canal
If the sight of the Panama Canal alone isn’t enough to awe you, try contemplating the fact that 239 million cubic yards of earth had to be excavated to build it. A cruise across Gatun Lake and through the Gaillard Cut takes you down the biggest short cut in the world from one ocean to another!
Across the Isthmus of Panama. connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. History abounds along every mile of this engineering marvel. Be amazed as your ship is raised and lowered through an extraordinary system of lakes and locks. Water for the locks - around 52 million gallons per transit is supplied by Gatun Lake, an immense artificial reservoir of 168 square miles. Surrounded by dense, impenetrable jungle, it is one of the most scenic portions of the Panama Canal.Completed in 1914, the Panama Canal was the culmination of a dream shared by many that begins in 1513 with the Spanish Conquistador Balboa; the first European to trek across the 43 mile wide isthmus. The French Canal Company began construction of the Panama Canal in 1880 but plagued by diseases, financial burdens and engineering problems, sold its rights and properties to the United States for $40 million. France's investment in the canal project was $287 million, a loss of $240 million. The United States began construction in 1904 and completed the monumental project in 10 years at a cost of approximately $387 million. The building of the canal involved three main problems: engineering, sanitation, and organization. For example, the engineering challenges alone involved digging through the Continental Divide, constructing the largest earth dam ever built up to the time, designing and building the most massive canal locks ever envisioned, constructing the largest gates ever swung, and solving environmental problems of enormous proportions.
» Back to
