The Panama Canal is a 48-mile ship canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Panama. Construction began in 1881 but was halted due to engineering challenges and disease. The US later took over the project and completed it in 1914. The canal features a system of locks that lift ships up 26 meters and a large artificial lake. It has significantly reduced travel times and increased international trade by providing a shortcut between the oceans.

1. PANAMA CANAL
By : -
02- Thoufique Salik
08- Prashant Verma

2. INTRODUCTION
 Panama Canal is a 48-mile (77.1 km) ship
canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the
Pacific Ocean.
 It connects via Caribbean Sea.
 The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama.
 Key conduit for international maritime trade.
 Panama Canal Project was started in1881 by France, but
had to stop because of engineering problems and high
mortality due to disease.
 Later US took the project and took the decade to
complete in 1914.
 Original Owner - La Société internationale du Canal.
 Principal Engineer - John Findlay Wallace, John Frank
Stevens (1906–1908), George Washington Goethals.

3. INTRODUCTION
 It was constructed to enabling ships to avoid the lengthy
Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South
America (via the Drake Passage) or to navigate the Strait
of Magellan.
 One of the largest and most difficult engineering Project
ever Undertaken.
 The largest ships that can transit the canal today are
called Panamax.
 The American Society of Civil Engineers has named the
Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern
world.

5. PROFILE OF PANAMA CANAL

6. Gatun Locks
GATUN LOCKS
 It is a lock system, lifts the ship 26 mtrs high.
 Having total 6 steps. Three ups and 3 downs.
 Total length including approach wall is 3 kms.

7. The Culebra Cut at Las Cascadas
CULEBRA CUT
 The next excavation was the Culebra Cut – an incision
into Panama that extended for nine miles and ended at
Gatun Lake

8. GATUN LAKE
 At the time of creation it was largest artificial lake. It is of
32 km in length.
 Created between 1907-14 by the building of the Gatun
Dam across the Chagres Rive.
Gatun lake

9. MIRAFLORES LOCK
 is the name of one of the three locks that form part of
the Panama Canal.
 In this lock , vessels are lifted (or lowered) 54 feet
(16.5 m) in two stages, allowing them to transit to or from
the Pacific Ocean port of Balboa (near Panama City).
Miraflores lock

10. CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS
 Construction costs = approximately $352 million
 Paid to panama = $10 million
 paid to French company = $40 million,
 money previously invested by the French = $287 million
 the total expenditures were about $639 million.

11. DIFFICULTIES FACED DURING
CONSTRUCTION:
1. Disease : Yellow Fever, Malaria
2. Excavation: where to put the dirt, and how to get it
there
3. Canal Design: sea level or lock and dam
4. Political Intrigue: who's country is this anyway?
5. Manpower: who's gonna work under these conditions?
6. Financing: what comes after a billion?
7. Logistics: material and equipment on an unprecedented
scale.
8. Military Applications: build forts and make sure the
battleships will fit.

12. BENEFITS
 The Panama Canal helped the import and export of
goods.
 This created jobs.
 Trading helped to increase the economy.
 Travel became easier and faster.
 environmental contribution.
 Saving Time.
 Experiencing Physics.
 Affordability.

13. PANAMA CANAL EXPANSION
 The expansion of the Panama Canal is a project that will
double the capacity of the Panama Canal by 2015.
 Construction of two lock complexes—one each on the
Atlantic and Pacific sides—each with three chambers,
which include three water-saving basins;
 Excavation of new access channels to the new locks
and the widening of existing navigational channels; and
 Deepening of the navigation channels and the elevation
of Gatun Lake’s maximum operating level

15. CARGO VOLUME
 cargo volume transiting the canal will grow at an
average of 3 percent per year, doubling the 2005
tonnage by 2025.
 According to the analysis conducted by ACP and some
Shipping experts the canal expansion would be
beneficial to both the canal and its users.
COMPETITION
Northwest Passage
Current competitors of the Panama Canal are the
U.S. intermodal system and the Suez Canal.