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Continued from  http://blog.sciencenet.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=1565&do=blog&id=959341

When the French first started diging in Panama in 1880s, they based  their experience in building the Suez channel which was essentially a ditch in  the sand. But the French miscalculated the tropical condition, the disease  (yellow fever and malariawhich at that time medicine did not know how to treat), and the rocky terrainin Panama. One third of the some 60,000+ workers died of diseases, and it was simply impossible to dig deep enough into the  bedrock to produce a sea level anal. After ten years, the company went bankrupt  and the effort died. In early 1903, the  US with her gun boat diplomacy, helped Panama gain independence  from Columbia and signed a sweet heart deal to work on  the canal again. This time they learned the lesson of the French and came up  with a clever idea. Instead of trying to dig a sea level canal, they used the  abundant rain to create a huge mountain top lake and avoided digging for  most of the 50 miles between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.  At the two ends they built a set of waterpowered elevator locks to raise and lower ships to and from the water level of the manmade  mountain  lake. Only two short “cuts”  have to be dug to connect the locks to the lake to complete the “canal”. As a  historical note, the smallest charge for using the lake was 36 cents for  a person who actually swam the entire length of the canal from the  Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Below are some photos of the locks both from the landside and from the canal:

ship being towed through a lock

A modern cruise ship going through the canal

Two overviews of a lock

Lock doors opening

Opening wider

The IEEE comemorating plaque at the administration building of the canal.

Panama is a country of nearly 4 million people half of which live and work  in Panama City. Geologists for some reason determined that the city is earthquake  and Tsunami free. As a result a forest of high rise buildings were built along  the  shoreline. Modern Panama City that reminds us of the Putong development in Shanghai.  Below are some phots of the city and the relics of the old town before  the  Spanish conquest and occupation.

We also stayed at a modern resort hotel on the “lake” and took a trip through the canal for the experience going through the elevator locks. Here are some photos of the boat trip, the lake, and the Monkey island on the lake.

View from lake hotel room window

more lake hotel views

Part of our tour  group

The Bridge of America crossing the Canal and linking North and South America

Different kinds of monkeys on the Monkey Island of the canal lake.

The Biodiversity Museum designed by the fame architect Frank Gehry on the city shore.

Panoramic view of the canal

Another panoramic view

An enjoyable six day tour of this small country.

Notes added 6/22/2016 For stories, photos, and problems of the construction of the new larger canal locks see http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/22/world/americas/panama-canal.html?emc=edit_ae_20160622&nl=todaysheadlines-asia&nlid=11694710&_r=0