Carcel
Páginas: 2 (336 palabras)
Publicado: 17 de noviembre de 2012
David Eduardo Almanza Sánchez 7° A
The Panama Canal is an 77.1-kilometre (48 mi) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea)to 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 Lake Gatun (85m abovesea-level) which was used to reduce the amount of work required for a sea-level connection. The current locks are 33.5m although new larger ones are proposed.
Work on the canal, which began in 1881,was completed in 1914, making it no longer necessary for ships to sail the lengthy Cape Hornroute around the southernmost tip of South America (via the Drake Passage) or to navigate the dangerouswaters of the Strait of Magellan. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut made it possible for ships to travel betweenthe Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in half the time previously required. The shorter, faster, safer route to the U.S. West Coast and to nations in and along the Pacific Ocean allowed those places to become moreintegrated with the world economy.
During this time, ownership of the territory that is now the Panama Canal was first Colombian, then French and then American before coming under the control of thePanamanian government in 1999. The Panama Canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships when it opened in 1914, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, the latter measuring a total of 309.6million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2008, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal, many of them much larger than the original planners could haveenvisioned; the largest ships that can transit the canal today are called Panamax. The American Society of Civil Engineers has named the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
The Panama Canal is an 77.1-kilometre (48 mi) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea)to 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 Lake Gatun (85m abovesea-level) which was used to reduce the amount of work required for a sea-level connection. The current locks are 33.5m although new larger ones are proposed.
Work on the canal, which began in 1881,was completed in 1914, making it no longer necessary for ships to sail the lengthy Cape Hornroute around the southernmost tip of South America (via the Drake Passage) or to navigate the dangerouswaters of the Strait of Magellan. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut made it possible for ships to travel betweenthe Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in half the time previously required. The shorter, faster, safer route to the U.S. West Coast and to nations in and along the Pacific Ocean allowed those places to become moreintegrated with the world economy.
During this time, ownership of the territory that is now the Panama Canal was first Colombian, then French and then American before coming under the control of thePanamanian government in 1999. The Panama Canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships when it opened in 1914, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, the latter measuring a total of 309.6million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2008, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal, many of them much larger than the original planners could haveenvisioned; the largest ships that can transit the canal today are called Panamax. The American Society of Civil Engineers has named the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
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