Canal Geeking

Panama City, PANAMA
Feb.24, 2015

I have been getting seasons tickets with a group of friends to the theatre in Calgary for years - it's as much about going for dinner and wine as it is about the show.  And I never want to know ahead of time what the show is or is about - it's my time not to have to plan or make decisions, I just know I'm going to the theatre to be entertained, to be given something interesting to think about.

I took the same approach with the Panama Canal.  I knew its undertaking and completion were both major feats of engineering, and for that reason I couldn't come to Central America without paying homage.  I didn't know much else.  And that made the trip to the Canal and museum pretty 'awesome' in the true sense of the word.

Watching the ships lined up for the Miraflores Lock, Panama Canal - from the outside observation deck

Pre-History:

Panama isthmus - http://www.billfrymire.com/gallery/
isthmus-Central-America.jpg.html

The country of Panama covers the narrowest section of the land-bridge, or isthmus, that connects North and South America [MAP II].

Incidentally, before the centuries-old canal idea could come to fruition, it was home to the first completed "transcontinental" railroad (47 miles!) of the Americas, 1855 [1].

Previous considerations for the canal had been researched by engineers from Spain (1500-1800's: access to Peru and gold during the explorer days), Scotland (1690's: failed efforts to become a world trading nation), and America (1800's: access to Californian gold rush), before the French took it on (late 1800's) after their previous success with the Suez Canal in Egypt [1].

Characteristics:
Distance:  80 km
Typical transit time:  8-10 hours
Elevation change from sea level:  26 metres
Locks:  3

The alternative - sailing around Cape Horn, the southern tip of South America:
Distance:  a few thousand km
Typical transit time:  2 weeks

Canal Tolls:
Cruise ships:  up to $400,000 US
Cargo ships:  $100,000 US on average
Sailboat/yacht:  $1,200 US
Swimmer:  $0.36 US*

* Richard Halliburton holds the Guinness Book World Record for lowest toll through the Canal, January 1928 [2] - it took him about 10 days, 50 hours total swimming time, and he went through the locks properly as if a ship.  Because the canal tolls are weight-based, his mere man-weight resulted in his $0.36 fee.

History:

The original French Engineering team - the fellow in
the second row, second from right, reminded me of
my friend Joe (photo of a photo at the museum)

Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man behind the Suez Canal, started a Panama Canal Company in 1880.  They began work in 1881 - digging, blasting, carting away the debris - but soon succumbed to poor initial planning and understanding of the geology, primitive equipment, the jungle and rainy climate, and yellow fever, malaria, and other illnesses.

In 1902–4, the United States bought the remaining assets of the Panama Canal Company, and finished the canal in 1914.

The 26 metres of elevation change from sea level, with the potential amount of blasting required to clear the way, was one of the bigger problems for the engineers to solve.  The end result was the three locks installed - one on the Atlantic side, two on the Pacific side.  For the really interested, Wikipedia has a good graphic showing both the route and the canal profile [3].  According to a plaque at the museum, with the amount of drilling that had to be done for the blasting, a hole could have been bored straight through the earth and 900km beyond.

Primitive equipment (photo of a photo at the museum)

Why:
Seems to me there is always an economic reason for the presence of the USA in foreign countries.  So why were they in Panama?

They were looking to build a canal across the Americas - maybe Nicaragua, or take over and hurry up the Panama construction from the French.  At the time, Panama was not a country but rather a state of Columbia, and the Columbian government would not grant the US a lease on the land for building the canal.  In the meantime, a little birdie told the US that Panamanian rebels were planning a revolt in order to separate from Columbia.  "Mwa ha haaa," said the US, "we'll send out the US Army to support the Panamanian rebels, recognize the new Panama, then sign a treaty with them providing access to the land to complete the canal"!  Panama subsequently remained a protectorate of the USA for nearly 40 years [1] - transactions in Panama today can be carried out in both American and Panamanian currency.

So THAT's why...

Owl Butterfly (mounted) - get it?

Butterfly aside:

The canal museum had a floor dedicated to the ecosystem of the canal route.  The name "Panama" has many interpretations, one being from an indigenous word meaning 'many butterflies'.  Given the number of Very Large and beautiful butterflies I was regularly walking with, I'd buy that...

From the canal observation deck:

Ship just entered into the lock

The lock doors (for the adjacent lane) - they are operated hydraulically,
and only when the waters are of equal heigh on both sides; the change
in water levels within the lock is controled by a set of hidden culverts

The ship, 16.5 metres lower - after less than 10 minutes - ready
to head out into the Pacific