June 29, 2016

On Sunday, June 26, thousands of people lined the Panama Canal’s new Cocolí Locks as the colossal Chinese container ship Cosco Shipping Panama made the inaugural voyage through the canal’s new $5.25-billion expansion. The expansion, 10 years in the making and 2 years overdue, doubles the waterway’s previous shipping capacity. The new longer, wider, and deeper lock complexes allow the passage of most post-Panamax ships—gargantuan tankers and container and cruise ships that were once too large to fit through the canal (now described as neo-Panamax).

On June 20, 2016, the crane ship Oceanus runs a successful trial transit through the Cocolí Locks, part of the new Panama Canal expansion. The inauguration of the expanded Panama Canal took take place on June 26.
Credit: © Panama Canal Authority

With the expansion, the Panama Canal can now accommodate about 98 percent of all ships afloat. (The largest supertankers and aircraft carriers are still too big.) For neo-Panamax ships, the expansion significantly shortens the trip from China to the east coast of the United States—the canal’s most important commercial route. The expansion’s new lock chambers measure 1,400 feet (427 meters) long, 180 feet (55 meters) wide, and 60 feet (18.3 meters) deep. The older locks—still very much in use—measure 1,000 feet (304 meters) long, 110 feet (33.5 meters) wide, and 42 feet (12.8 meters) deep.

The Panama Canal’s newly expanded locks are at each end of the waterway.
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Construction on the expansion began in 2007 with the aim of opening on the canal’s 100^th birthday in 2014. Various setbacks—including construction disputes, design flaws, funding and water shortages, leaky concrete, and work stoppages—delayed the expansion’s opening until Sunday. But Panamanian officials and citizens alike celebrated the better-late-than-never achievement, welcoming the increase in revenue and prestige brought by the expansion. The Panama Canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and links the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It ranks as one of the greatest engineering achievements in the world.

August 15, 2014

The Panama Canal, a waterway that cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and links the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean,  opened 100 years ago today. When the canal was completed in 1914, it shortened a ship’s voyage between New York City and San Francisco to less than 5,200 miles (8,370 kilometers). Previously, ships making the trip had to travel around South America—a distance of more than 13,000 miles (20,900 kilometers).

The Panama Canal cuts the trip from New York City to San Francisco by about 9,000 miles (14,400 kilometers). (World Book map)

Work on the Panama Canal was begun by the French in the 1880′s. After a few years, however, they stopped the project. They had lost nearly 20,000 workers to endemic diseases, mostly yellow fever and malaria.

Teddy Roosevelt became president in 1901 and immediately wanted to start building a canal across Panama. The political and engineering challenges were still formidable, but the timing was better for disease control. Since the 1880′s, scientists had learned that both yellow fever and malaria were transmitted by mosquitoes.

President Theodore Roosevelt visited the construction site of the Panama Canal in 1906. He wrote his son about the Gaillard Cut, saying, "They are eating steadily into the mountain ... ." (Bettmann Archive.)

Steps taken to defeat these two dread diseases in Panama included draining standing water or covering standing water with kerosene to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs; and heavily spraying areas with insecticide to kill adult mosquitoes.

Work began on the canal in 1904 and it was completed in 1914. Worker deaths on the project the second time around were still very high—6,000 Americans died building the canal.

When the canal opened, approximately 1,000 ships a year passed through it. Today, some 15,000 ships a year pass through the canal.

Additional World Book articles:

• Building and Construction 2012 (a Back in Time article)
• Panama 2009 (a Back in Time article)