Panama Canal--Miraflores Locks

Cargo ship entering Miraflores Locks

Inside the first lock

The Miraflores Locks, on the Pacific end of the Canal, are the most visited site on the entire Canal.  Ships are lowered or raised 27 feet via these locks as they transit from south to north or vice versa.  Ships travel in only one direction for 6 hours before ships from the opposite direction are allowed into the Canal.  All ships must pay their fees before being added to the queue.  This ship paid $205,000 to travel through the Canal.  Generally, larger ships transit during daylight hours and smaller ships or boats at night.  A pilot takes control of all ships to guide them through the Canal.

Panama is adding more and much larger locks in 2 locations to accommodate the huge tankers and container ships that are used today.  U.S. aircraft carriers are also too large for today's canal and will use the new locks when they are finished, scheduled for the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal in 2014.



              opening the Miraflores Locks
 

The French, coming off their successful construction of the Suez Canal, were the first to try to build the Panama Canal.  Their plan was a giant trench that would be level, requiring no locks.  But, that would have meant digging down 1500 feet at the highest point of the route, as the Panama Canal goes through Panama's central mountains.  The French "trench" is to the right.









The Americans finally built the Canal with extraordinary design and engineering.  During the French effort, over 21,000 workers, mostly West Indians, died of yellow fever and other diseases, not to mention accidents.  4500 workers died during the American construction.

Dr. William Gorgas was an army physician who believed, amidst great skepticism, that mosquitoes transmitted yellow fever.  During his tenure at the Canal, he eliminate all the swamps and standing water that allowed mosquitoes to breed, thus enormously reducing the deaths from yellow fever.  Thus, so many fewer deaths while the Americans were building the Canal.  Colonel (later General) George Washington Goethals was the third American Army engineer on the Canal and oversaw its completion.  Later he became the Governor of the Canal Zone.



Container ship at entrance to Miraflores Locks