Panama Canal

engineering · trade · Panama · water

Shortcut Between Oceans. The Panama Canal is an 82-kilometer waterway that connects the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, saving ships from having to sail all the way around South America to get from one ocean to the other.

Locks Lift Ships Up. The canal uses special locks at each end that work like giant elevators, lifting ships up 26 meters to Gatun Lake (an artificial lake in the middle) and then lowering them down on the other side, so ships don't have to climb over the land.

Huge Water User. Each time a ship passes through the canal, it uses about 200 million liters of fresh water to operate the locks, which is enough water to fill 80 Olympic swimming pools.

Built Bigger and Better. The original canal opened with locks that were 33.5 meters wide, but a new, wider set of locks was finished in 2016 to let even bigger ships called Neopanamax vessels pass through.

Drought Threatens It. The canal depends on fresh water from the Chagres River, so when droughts happen and water levels drop, the canal can struggle to operate smoothly.