ntal divide begins. The channel has a depth of about 45 feet and extends for eight miles. You then reach the Pedro Miguel locks. The locks lower ships 31 feet to Lake Miraflores. Lake Miraflores has a height of 54 feet above see level. When you reach the locks at Miraflores you are lowered to sea level. You then still have to travel seven more miles till you reach the Pacific Ocean. The whole journey is 51.5 miles has 23 direction changes and takes approximately 9 hours to complete.The Canal LocksThe canal locks are engineering marvel themselves. The locks operate by gravity flow of water from Gatun, Madden and Miraflores lakes, which are fed by the Charges and other rivers. The locks are uniform in length, width and depth. They are built in tandem to permit traffic in both directions. Each lock has two doors that are 65 feet wide and seven feet thick set on large hinges. They are moved into position by motors set in the lock walls. The lock chambers are 1000 feet long, 110 feet wide and 41 feet deep. Only small craft are allowed to pass through the locks under their own power. Electric towing locomotives take through the larger ships.Problems with the canalWhen the canal was first designed the problem of landslides had been ignored. Slides increased more frequently as excavation increased in the Culebra Cut area. The problem was not with soil but with the underlying layer of Iron pyrite. When it comes in contact with air it starts to rapidly oxidize and rapidly decay causing the canal walls to collapse. Since the building of the panama cannel it estimated that 15.3 million cubic meters of soil has been removed, which is equal to 25% of the earth removed while building the canal.(The panama Canal(1999))The canal must be constantly maintained, the tropical climate wreaks havoc on the electronic controls. They have to constantly keep dredging the bottom because of heavy rainfalls. Another problem is the deforestation along the sides of t...
