Panama Canal

The Canal is truly one on the wonders of the modern world.  Though it was completed in 1914, to many this does not make it very modern, yet it was on the cusp of modern times, and the machinery and approach to building it did herald a new era in mankind.
The first attempt by the French was not well thought out and suffered greatly as a result.  The difference in mortality between it and the American attempt is vast, with the French losing over 20,000 people due to accident and disease while moving 30,000,000 cubic yards of material, while the Americans, lost 5,600 lives while moving 170,000,000 cubic yards.
The difference can also be attributed to lessons learned in review.  The American team looked at what had happened within the French workforce, and before the digging started, started on infrastructure for the towns and work camps along the way.  Water, sewer, roads and improved railroads were all integral to the American plan, and the discovery of mosquitoes being the carrier of malaria and yellow fever made significant impacts.
The item that tends to stick in my mind is the volume of material moved.  The original plan was to simply build a canal without locks, and the amount of material moved would have been considerably higher than the total of 200 million cu ft.  The shifted material ended up in three main places, two breakwaters were built, one on either end to help prevent silting of the canal entrances as well as linking small islands to the mainland.  The third place was in the huge earthen dam for Gatun Lake.  The size of the dam is not readily discerned from the canal today.  Most of it has bee covered by grass and trees, anchoring the material and making it blend into the surroundings.  The resulting lake means that although the ships need to be lifted higher (85 feet) than a sea level canal, it also meant far less digging.  The lake also provides the water for the lock system and a small amount for electric generation.
Each full passage of the Panama Canal uses roughly 26,000,000 gallons of water.
There is far more about the canal available elsewhere, as well as http://www.pancanal.com/eng/index.html where you can follow the links to live camera feeds of the locks and new construction.
Now, on to the pictures.

The Pacific breakwater

Panamerican Bridge

The width of the lock is 110 feet, max width of ship is 108 feet

 

With such a close fit, the ships move very slowly in the locks.

The gates and cement walls are original.

The electric Mules, which are used for steering and stablizing the ships.

We did not get a good view of the new construction, but here you can see a portion of the new terracing and the dike which will separate the new larger lane from the old channel.  The new lane will be a one lane canal with traffic taking approx 24 hours to make a transit.

Last shot, the new lock gates awaiting installation.