A Modern Marvel
Building the canal
What is a lock?
Locks are machines that raise and lower ships between different levels of water.
For instance, if a boat is going from a river into a lake and the river is higher than the lake, the boat will steer into a lock. The lock will slowly release water until the boat is at the lake level, and then the boat will exit the other side into the lake.
As construction got underway again, President Theodore Roosevelt assigned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take over. In 1909, workers began building the locks.
Returning to Panama
In 1977, the United States and Panama signed a treaty, or agreement, that ownership and management of the canal would permanently transfer to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999.
The Panama Canal today
As ships have become bigger and traffic has increased, the canal has been improved and changed. In September 2007, the Panama Canal Expansion Program began. The work includes: each entrance locks and widening and deepening the existing channels Lake.
Panama Canal facts
canal every day. hours to move through the canal. About three of those hours are spent passing through the locks. limits for ships passing through the canal. The existing locks are 110 feet wide and 1,050 feet long. Panamax ships must be no wider than 107 feet and no longer than 965 feet. Panama Canal is complete, “New Panamax” ships will be able to move through the canal. They will have a maximum width of 161 feet and a maximum length of 1,200 feet.
became the 1 millionth ship to transit the canal.