Construction was originally slated to take seven or eight years, with new locks beginning operations in late 2014, almost exactly a century after the canal first opened.
Plans were formulated for various improvements – including the excavation of new traffic lanes allowing more and larger ships to transit two new locks, one each on the Atlantic and Pacific sides the widening and deepening of existing channels and the raising of Gatun Lake's maximum operating level. Global demand necessitated a major upgrade. In 2010, the actual figure was nearly 300 million tons and growing rapidly, with over a third of shipping traffic unable to pass through because In 1934, it was estimated that the maximum capacity of the canal would be around 80 million tons per year. By the early 21st century, however, it was handling far more vessel traffic than had ever been envisioned by its builders. Functioning as a short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it greatly reduced the travel times for ships – enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America.įor nearly a hundred years, the canal enjoyed great success, acting as a keyĬonduit for international maritime trade. Completion of the Panama Canal expansion projectīuilt from 1881 until 1914, the Panama Canal was among the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.
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