Panama Canal locksThe Panama Canal locks (Spanish: Esclusas del Canal de Panamá) are a lock system that lifts ships up 85 feet (26 metres) to the main elevation of the Panama Canal and lowers them down again. The original canal had a total of six steps (three up, three down) for a ship's passage. The total length of the lock structures, including the approach walls, is over 1.9 miles (3 km). The locks were one of the greatest engineering works ever to be undertaken when they opened in 1914.
Panama Canal expansion project2007–16 construction of larger locks on Panama CanalA New Panamax ship passes through the Panama Canal's Agua Claralock in 2019.
Balboa, PanamaBalboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. It was the capital of the Panama Canal Zone under American administration. The Panama Canal Authority has its main headquarters (Edificio de La Administración del Canal de Panamá) on Balboa Heights.
Panama Canal AuthorityThe Panama Canal Authority (Spanish: Autoridad del Canal de Panamá; ACP) is the agency of the government of Panama responsible for the operation and management of the Panama Canal. The ACP took over the administration of the canal from the Panama Canal Commission, the joint US–Panama agency that managed the canal, on December 31, 1999, when the canal was handed over from the United States to Panama as per the Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
Centennial Bridge, PanamaPanama's Centennial Bridge (Spanish: Puente Centenario) is a major bridge crossing the Panama Canal. It was built to supplement the overcrowded Bridge of the Americas and to replace it as the carrier of the Pan-American Highway. Upon its opening in 2004, it became the second permanent crossing of the canal. DescriptionThe Centennial Bridge is the second of three major road crossing of the Panama Canal, the first being the Bridge of the Americas.
Twenty-foot equivalent unitThe twenty-foot equivalent unit (abbreviated TEU or teu) is a general unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot-long (6.1 m) intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box that can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains, and trucks.
Panama CanalThe Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
Atlantic Bridge, PanamaThe Atlantic Bridge (Spanish: Puente Atlántico) is a road bridge in Colón, Panama spanning the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. Completed in 2019, it is the third bridge over the canal after the Bridge of the Americas and the Centennial Bridge, both on the Pacific side of the canal. The bridge is a double-pylon, double-plane, concrete girder, cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 530 metres (1,740 ft) and two side spans of 230 metres (750 ft).
Bridge of the AmericasThe Bridge of the Americas (Spanish: Puente de las Américas; originally known as the Thatcher Ferry Bridge) is a road bridge in Panama which spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. Designed by American civil engineering company Sverdrup & Parcel, it was completed in 1962 at a cost of US$20 million. Two other bridges cross the canal: the Atlantic Bridge at the Gatun locks and the Centennial Bridge.CapesizeCapesize ships are the largest dry cargo ships with ball mark dimension: about 170,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) capacity, 290 m (950 ft) long, 45 m (148 ft) beam (wide), 18 m (59 ft) draught (under water depth). They are too large to transit the Suez Canal (Suezmax limits) or Panama Canal (Neopanamax limits), and so have to pass either Cape Agulhas or Cape Horn to traverse between oceans.
Culebra CutThe Culebra Cut, formerly called Gaillard Cut, is an artificial valley that cuts through the Continental Divide in Panama. The cut forms part of the Panama Canal, linking Gatun Lake, and thereby the Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Panama and hence the Pacific Ocean. It is 12.6 kilometres (7.8 mi) from the Pedro Miguel lock on the Pacific side to the Chagres River arm of Lake Gatun, with a water level 26 metres (85 ft) above sea level.
Lock (water navigation)A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a chamber in a permanently fixed position in which the water level can be varied. In a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself (usually then called a caisson) that rises and falls.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.