Engineering marvels: The Panama Canal

As Reddy Kancharla continues with the series of blogs, he features one of the most popular engineering marvels globally, the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is a man-made facility that has meant so much to the rest of the world. Because of its geographical location, economic experts saw the need to finally erase the divide between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Before the canal was built, seafaring

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vessels had to travel around the landmass of Cape Horn, which meant that they would have to go for 15,000 kilometers, for a total of 2 months at sea, just to get from one ocean to another, recounts Reddy Kancharla.

With the Panama Canal, this length was cut to only 80 kilometers, to the delight of the biggest seafaring traders of the day, because this meant that far greater opportunities became suddenly available to them because of such an improvement.

However, building a canal that could accommodate the biggest vessels that carried a host of precious goods that consumers awaited at the farther side of the world was easier said than done. The canal is about 400m wide, and it was made to operate at about 85 feet above sea level through an ingenious system of locks that had to be filled and drained as each vessel made its gradual and progressive entry.

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The creation of the Panama Canal is one of the most complex works of engineering and labor ever documented. Its construction took a sacrifice that amounted to the loss of 25,000 lives.

Today, the canal generates annual revenue of $2 billion, and it will forever go down in history as one of the biggest creations that the world has benefited from.

Reddy Kancharla has a master's degree in civil engineering and more than 25 years of experience in civil construction, construction QA/QC, and geotechnical consultation. He also has a decade's worth of experience in senior management. For more related reading, visit this page.