Panama Tourism and Travel: panama canal cruising

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Itinerary : Panama Canal Full Transit Tour

About 8-9 hours

The tour starts at 7:00AM at the Flamenco Island in Amador Causeway in Panama City. You will check-in at the ship to start this adventure. The ship will cross under the Bridge of the Americas (Puente de Las Americas) and then start your transit through the Miraflores Locks, the first set of locks. While in Miraflores you will ascend 18 meters in two steps. After that you will find yourself transiting the artificial Miraflores Lake which is located just between the Miraflores Locks and Pedro Miguel Locks. You will still be in the Pacific Ocean.

At Pedro Miguel Locks the ship will ascend again another 9 meters in one step. While exiting Pedro Miguel Locks you will transit the Gaillard Cut (Corte Culebra). This area is full of history, is one of the most important points of attraction of this trip. Also, you will witness the works being done for the Canal expansion project.

Then you’ll find Gatun Lake. The second largest man-made lake in the world. You will find the Barro Colorado – Smithsonian Research Station and then you will transit the Gatun Locks the last and only set of locks located in the Atlantic side. At this point you will experience a 26 meters drop in three different steps which will complete your transit through the Panama Canal.

You will dock at Pier 6 in the Colon area where the transportation is provided to return to Panama City.

What's Special about the Panama Canal Full Transit Tour?

English/Spanish guide-narrator.

Continental Breakfast.

Complete Lunch, bottled water and soft drinks

Snacks

Transportation by bus from Colon to Flamenco Island in Panama City where tour started

Panama Canal Locks Gates

Tour Suggested

Panama Canal Tour

City Tour and Panama Canal

Panama Canal Full Transit

Panama Canal Partial Transit

More Tour Options www.panamatourismtravel.com

The gates which separate the chambers in each flight of locks must hold back a considerable weight of water, and must be both reliable and strong enough to withstand accidents, as the failure of a gate could unleash a catastrophic flood of water downstream.

These gates are of enormous size, ranging from 47 to 82 ft (14.33 to 24.99 m) high, depending on position, and are 7 ft (2.13 m) thick; the tallest gates are required at Miraflores, due to the large tidal range there. The heaviest leaves weigh 662 t (730 short tons; 652 long tons); the hinges themselves each weigh 16.7 t (36,817 lb). Each gate has two leaves, 65 ft (19.81 m) wide, which close to a V shape with the point upstream; this arrangement has the effect that the force of water from the higher side pushes the ends of the gates together firmly. The gates can only be opened when, in the operating cycle, water level on both sides is equal.

The original gate machinery consisted of a huge drive wheel, powered by an electric motor, to which was attached a connecting rod, which in turn attached to the middle of the gate. These mechanisms were replaced with hydraulic struts beginning in January 1998, after 84 years of service. The gates are hollow and buoyant, much like the hull of a ship, and are so well balanced that two 19 kW (25 hp) motors are enough to move each gate leaf; if one motor fails, the other can still operate the gate at reduced speed.

Each chamber also contains a pair of auxiliary gates which can be used to divide the chamber in two; this is designed to allow for the transit of smaller vessels — such as canal tugs — without using the full quantity of water. They were originally incorporated because the overwhelming majority of all ships of the early 1900s were less than 600 ft (183 m) in length, and would therefore not need the full length of the lock chamber. Nowadays these gates are rarely used; instead, small boats such as tour boats, tugs, and yachts are passed in groups.