History

Since the discovery of the American Pacific Coast here in Panama, mankind had a dream: to make a waterway, connecting both oceans. European kingdoms where interested in transporting gold from South America to the Atlantic Coast through a shorter and safer route. However, wars in Europe and the constant struggle for the control of kingdoms in the Mediterranean Sea put the project on permanent hold. In 1534 a Spanish official suggested a route for the Canal, which was in fact close to that of the present waterway. Several other plans for a canal were suggested later, but no action was taken. Eventually the Spanish government abandoned its interest. In 1848 the discovery of gold in California and the so called gold-rush raised in the U.S. an interest for the project. Various studies made between 1850 and 1875 showed that there were only two practical routes for a canal: either through Panama or through Nicaragua. After years of discussions, the Panama route was chosen as the best option. The first attempt to build a Canal was made by the French, who tried to open a sea-level waterway through Panama. However, the enterprise was unsuccessful, mainly because of financial bankruptcy and the death of around 22,000 people due to tropical diseases.
The French company in charge of the project sold its assets to the United States for $40 million. The dream of the waterway finally became real on August 15, 1914. The Panama Canal, stretching 81 km from Colon, on the Atlantic Coast, to Panama City on the Pacific, merged the two oceans and started a new era in world commerce. Today, 90 years later, the Panama Canal is still one of the world's greatest engineering marvels. Villa Marita consist of seven cabins with room, living room, closets, bathroom and 24hr. hot water. Every room is made of fine wood; windows are French style. We also offer social areas such as restaurant, bar, terrace for seminars or big group activities. Roofed areas are specially made for barbecues or similar activities.
Our privileged location offers you panoramic views of the Baru volcano, the Pacific Ocean, valleys and mountains. The area provides a fresh natural and safe environment the whole year. Boquete is known as one of the worlds highest concentration of orchids and birds. We organize sightseeing tours, white water rafting, visit to Indian villages, and all sorts of activities that can be done in the area of Boquete. Welcome to Villa Marita in Boquete, the town of the Flowers.

The Construction

The Panama Canal was built in two stages: the work carried out by the French company headed by De Lesseps from 1881 to 1888 was the first; then the Americans completed the construction between 1904 and 1914. The reasons behind the failure of the French project were diseases such as yellow fever and malaria, both transmitted by tropical mosquitoes, and the inadequacy of the French machinery. However, they did advance a great deal: a total of 59.75 million cubic meters of land where excavated.
The value of the work completed by the French was estimated at about $ 25 million. They left behind a hospital, as well as considerable amounts of machinery and housing facilities. The canal project was assumed by the Americans in 1904. However, it wasn't until June 1906 that the decision on which type of canal to build was made: it was to be a lock canal. In November 18 1903 the United States and the new state of Panama signed the Hay / Bunau-Varilla treaty, by which the United States guaranteed the independence of the new country and secured a perpetual lease on a 10-mile strip for The Canal. Panama was to be compensated with an initial payment of $10 million and an annuity of $250,000, starting in 1913. Until the year 2000, this strip was known as the Canal Zone, and through all those years it was a constant cause of conflict between the two countries.

The Route

The length of the Panama Canal is approximately 51 miles. When a Ship crosses the Canal from the Atlantic Ocean, it follows this itinerary: - it enters the Canal through a dredged channel of 7.2 km. - it navigates through 11.1 km until it reaches the Gatun Locks. - it enters the Gatun Lake and continues on a southern and then south-eastern direction, to the mouth of Galliard Cut. - at the end of the Cut, it reaches the Pedro Miguel Locks - it enters Lake Miraflores and continues for 2.1 km until reaching Miraflores Locks - the ship runs 4km to Balboa, now on Pacific Sea level - the ship runs the last 8km of dredged channel out into the Bahia de Panama, in the Pacific Ocean.

Auxiliary facilities

The Madden Dam on the Rio Chagres provides a reservoir to maintain the level of the Gatun lake during the dry season. There are breakwaters protecting the channels at both ends of the canal. Hydroelectric plants are located at the Gatun and Madden Dams. Finally, there is the Panama Railroad, currently under reconstruction, which extends 76.6 km from Colon to Panama City.




The Locks

Gatun Locks - This series of locks raise ships 26 meters to the Gatun Lake. It consists of two parallel sets of locks, one for each direction: Atlantic to Pacific, and vice-versa. Each series has three locks. Each lock channel is 300 meters long with it's walls ranging in thickness from 15 meters at the base to 3 meters at the top. The central wall between the parallel channels at the Gatun locks has a thickness of 18 meters and stands in excess of 24 meters in height. The lock gates are made from steel and measure an average of 2 meters thick, 19.5 meters in length and stand 20 meters in height. . Pedro Miguel Locks - The smallest set of locks along the Panama Canal: it consists of one flight which raises or lowers ships 9.4 meters. Miraflores Locks - These locks consist of two flights, which combined lower / raises ships 16 meters at the Canal's Pacific end. The Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks are similar in construction and operation. However, they differ on their dimensions. Courtesy of the Panama Canal Commission.

Conclusion

One of the aspects that makes the Panama Canal such a remarkable engineering achievement is its self sufficiency. The dam at Gatun is capable of generating the electricity needed to run all the motors that operate the canal, as well as the locomotives in charge of towing the ships through it. No force is required to adjust the water level between the locks except gravity. As the locks operate, the water simply flows into them from the lakes or flows out to the sea level channels. The Canal also relies on the abundant rainfall of the area to compensate for the 52 million gallons of fresh water consumed during each crossing. Despite it's limited ship size capacity, the canal is still one of the more frequently traveled waterways in the world, servicing over 12,000 ships per year. The 51-miles long crossing takes about nine hours to complete, nothing compared to the alternative: rounding the tip of South America!

Interesting facts:

* A ship traveling from New York to San Francisco can save 7'872 miles using the Panama Canal instead of going around South America.
* In the fiscal year 1994 there where 14'029 transits, which carried 170.8 million tons of cargo and paid US $ 419.2 million in tolls.
* The lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents by Richard Halliburton for swimming through the Canal in 1928.
* The average time spent in transit from port to port is 8 to 10 hours
. * Each year more than 12,000 ocean going vessels transit it - an average of 30 a day.
* Ships all over the world are built to fit within dimensions of its locks: 305m long and 33.5m wide.
* To lessen the risk of a mishap, ships are cabled to locomotives at the approach of each series of locks and are pulled through them. There are 80 such locomotives , all made by Mitsubishi, at 1 million $ each.
* Until the Mead lake was formed by the building of the Hoover Dam, the Gatun Lake was the largest artificial body of water in the world.
* Ships pay according to their weight ; the average price is 30,000.00