The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is recognized as one of the eight wonders of the world and on the last day of our study tour, the class was privileged to witness one of the marvels of science and history in motion. Upon arriving at the Miraflores Lock, the class was invited to the theatre where a lecture was given on the Canal. We were shown how the canal works and how much it has developed from being a military logistics facility to a large commercial logistics centre. Over 14,000 ships pass through the Panama Canal annually; a far cry from the early years of annual ship counts of 1000.

After the lecture, students and facilitating faculty members were given the opportunity to experience two ships moving through the Canal. At the observation tower many tourists gathered to witness the operations occurring at the Miraflores Locks. It was truly amazing to see the huge cargo ship approaching the canal with tug boats at its side to keep the ship aligned on the correct route. When the ship entered the lock, it was attached by cables to two trains that pulled it along through the passage way.

As water filled the lock, the huge ship was lifted a height of 26 meters in total over the Atlantic Ocean. This truly fascinating operation is based on using water collected in reservoir lakes during Panama’s eight month rainy season.  A percentage of the water at these lakes is used domestically at neighbouring villages. The majority, although, is used at a power plant to generate electricity for the Canal’s facilities before being used to fill the locks. After filling the locks, this water is finally released to sea. Expansion of the canal will include new locks that will recycle 60 percent of this water although having enough rain water is never an issue as there is a large supply from the reservoirs. It takes approximately eight hours to cross from one ocean to the next and operations are continuous.

After observing the ship cross this spectacular wonder, the class then visited the four storeys of the Panama Canal museum. This comprehensive museum gave a detailed account of the important incidents and operations of the canal, from its inception to its completion and even included details of its current operations. The museum was filled with replicas of the machines used in the building of the canal as well as the ones that are currently in use.  The museum also showed  the various flora and fauna that could be found in Panama. This tour of the Panama museum completed our tour of the Panama Canal, a wonder of the world.

Authors: Kwame, Shazeer and Salahudeen