Du Pont (DD 941) - Naval Cruise Book

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I1 . Q xqLytYv4.x3 1.11 . Q, K. X , LL2 ' milk 'lun ill 44' .rn-fi., A X 5 x 7 Q4 A 1? 'Hx . ,1 . s 'n , I . I ll l I, . ll v. ,.. f-', 4 BW , ,M H Ha..- '1 ' . ' ' iw,.,2f.5wC3l, 51' Mltzlvzf! 'V If f '.'5 -Y .511 f' 1 The Panama Canal was opened to commercial ship traffic August 15, 1914. Since that time more than 2.8 billion tons of cargo have gone through the waterway. Savings to shipping and ul- timately to consumers are enormous and entire new trade areas and industries have been devel- oped as a result of its opening. Its geographical position has made it of unique importance in the development of Latin America. According to the 1975 Lloyd's Register of Shipping, there are 63,724 commercial ships of over 100 gross tons in the world's inventory of ships. Of these about 97 percent are able to transit the Canal. The es- timated capacity, from an engineering point of view, is about 27,000 ships per year. Currently, the Canal is handling around 14,000 transits per year and is, therefore, far from saturation. MMM., ,I ,, I ww' K L ' l Y v 7 47 447 1.34-.f y yrf'f?f?L:f ' Q --..... Each lock chamber holds about 8,800,000 cubic feet of water, or about 65,800,000 gallons. Every time a ship makes a complete transit, some 52 mil- lion gallons of fresh water are spilled into the sea. lt is estimated that the amount of water consumed in the operation of the Panama Canal in 1 day would keep the city of Boston supplied for 2 weeks. No pumps are used in filling or emptying the lock chambers. The principle involved is simply that of letting the water run downhill since Gatun Lake is 85 feet above sea level. The water flows from one level to another through 18-foot culverts located in the center and side walls of the locks. From these, the water flows through smaller culverts which open into the floor of the lock chambers. The lock gates at each end of the chambers are steel structures 65 feet wide and 7 feet thick which vary in height from 47 to 82 feet and weigh from 390 to 730 tons. They are covered with a sheathing of steel plates riveted to girder framework in a way similar to that used in ship construction. ' -1 , . . , ' f-.f-- 'L

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G' if ' ' mgefqvmfa n PANAMA ANAL The Panama Canal is 50 miles long from deep water in the Atlantic to deep water in the Pacific. lt was cut through one of the narrowest places and at one of the lowest saddles of the long isthmus which joins the North and South American conti- nents. The original elevation was 312 feet above sea level where it crosses the Continental Divide in the rugged mountain range. The Canal runs from northwest to southeast with the Atlantic entrance being 33.5 miles north and 27 miles west of the Pacific entrance. The airline distance between the two entrances is 43 miles. It requires about 9 hours for an average ship to transit the Canal. During this brief time, the passengers aboard can see one of the modern wonders of the world. Because of its historical background, no part of the Canal trip is more interesting to the ship pas- senger than Gaillard Cut. During the Canal con- struction period it was called Culebra Cut, but was renamed for Colonel David DuBose Gaillard, the engineer who was in charge of this section of the Canal work. This portion of the channel is 8 miles long and through solid rock for most of the dis- tance. lt was here that the principal excavation was required and here that the devastating slides occurred during construction and soon after the Canal was opened. The ship enters the Cut where the Chagres River flows into the Canal channel at Gamboa. More than any other section of the Canal, Gaillard Cut gives the impression of an enormous man-made ditch. A short distance before the ship reaches Pedro Miguel Locks it passes Gold Hill on the left, the highest promontory along the chan- nel. lt rises 662 feet above sea level. The channel in Gaillard Cut was originally excavated to a width of 300 feet but was later widened to 500 feet in order to provide a passing section for large ships. - f 'ff fW W WA? 5' 3 iwffffiifs IWVWWAXI N

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