Curiosities Of The Panama Canal That You Did Not Know
The construction of the canal brought wealth to Panama and allowed it to emerge from poverty to become a developing country. It is, without a doubt, the most important nation in Central America, thanks to this impressive work of engineering. Do you want to know some curiosities of the Panama Canal? Let’s go!
Curiosities of the Panama Canal
The canal began to function on August 15, 1914, although the first ship that crossed it as a test did so on January 7 of that same year. However, this ship was one of those that was working on its construction, so the work was not inaugurated as such until a merchant ship made the payment and crossed it.
This is the first of the curiosities of the Panama Canal, but this spectacular infrastructure hides many secrets.
How many people worked
A work like this could not help but have a large number of workers. More than 56,000 people worked here. Of these, 11,000 were European, as many from the United States and 31,000 from the Antilles.
Of all of them , 5,609 deaths were registered, either due to an occupational accident or due to an illness contracted by the conditions in which the country was.
The investment
Anyone who approaches the Panama Canal cannot help but wonder how much such construction will have cost. Well, all the investments totaled a whopping $375 million.
We say all the investments because ten million had to be paid to Panama to allow the canal to be built in its territory, as well as the 40 million that were paid to France for the rights.
Today, these amounts may seem ridiculous, but if we think that they occurred more than a century ago, it makes sense.
The first ship
Earlier we talked about the official date on which the first ship crossed the canal, and it was Captain John Constantine who commanded it. The ship, of Greek nationality, was commissioned to inaugurate a mechanical and engineering work like no other would be seen in the world.
The cheapest toll
Many wonder how much it takes to cross the canal with a boat. Well, it depends on the type of boat, the size and the load it carries. However, we can tell you how much the cheapest toll cost: 36 cents. They were paid by Richard Halliburton to swim across the canal in 1928.
How long it takes
There are those who ask if it makes sense for the ships to pass through Panama. Well the numbers say it all. It can take 8-10 hours for a ship to pass through the canal.
Its operation
The Panama Canal works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and despite this, given the time it takes a ship to cross, sometimes you have to queue to cross. However, thanks to the construction of new locks, this problem has been solved almost entirely.
Its depth
Another of the curiosities of the Panama Canal that few know. To introduce the technology that will drag the ships into the sea, thousands of kilometers of earth had to be excavated, specifically 245,000 thousand cubic kilometers.
The leftover materials
All the earth that was extracted, as well as pieces of rock, were transferred to different parts of the country to use them in other constructions. For example, thanks to this, the small island of Naos was made a peninsula and had a direct connection with Panama, or the town of Balboa was built.
Its longitude
Although when we go to visit the Panama Canal we only see the locks, the route of this is much longer, since it is 80 kilometers, which measures the country from one end to the other. And in every route a strip was made through which the boats could circulate. An ingenious work where they exist.
You see that any monument or infrastructure like this has a series of secrets that many are unaware of. What do you think of these curiosities of the Panama Canal? Interesting, right?
