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Type of Canal

The canal has a summit elevation of 85 feet above the sea, reached by a flight of three locks located at Gatun, on the Atlantic side, and by one lock at Pedro Miguel and a flight of two at Miraflores, on the Pacific side; all these locks are in duplicate—that is, two chambers, side by side. Each lock has a usable length of 1,000 feet and a width of 110 feet. The summit level is maintained by a large dam at Gatun and a small one at Pedro Miguel, between which is the great Gatun Lake, with an area of 164.23 square miles. A small lake, about two square miles in area, with a surface elevation of 55 feet, is formed on the Pacific side, between Pedro Miguel and Miraflores, the valley of the Rio Grande being closed by a small dam and the locks at Miraflores.

Length, Width and Depth of Canal

The Canal is about 50 miles in length, from deep water in the Caribbean Sea to deep water in the Pacific Ocean. The distance from deep water to the shore line in Limon Bay is about 4½ miles, and from the Pacific shore line to deep water is about 5 miles; hence, the length of the Canal from shore to shore is approximately 40½ miles.

The bottom width of the Canal varies from 200 feet in Culebra Cut to an indefinite width in the deep waters of the lakes. The approaches from deep water to land on both sides of the Canal are 500 feet wide, and the cuts in the shallow parts of the lakes from 500 to 1,000 feet wide. The Canal has a minimum depth of 41 feet.

Republic of Panama