Panama Canal

Panama Canal Canal de Panamá
A schematic of the Panama Canal, illustrating the sequence of locks and passages
Specifications
Locks	3 locks up, 3 down per transit; all three lanes (3 lanes of locks)
Status	Open, expansion opened June 26, 2016
Navigation authority	Panama Canal Authority
History
Original owner	La Société internationale du Canal
Principal engineer	John Findlay Wallace (1904–05), John Frank Stevens (1905–07), George Washington Goethals (1907–14)
Date of first use	August 15, 1914

The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 48-mile (77 km) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. There are locks at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 metres (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 33.5 metres (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, Post-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo.

France began work on the canal in 1881 but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.