In the Suez Canal,[15] outside Lake Timsah, there are five curves with a radius of 2,000 metres, or a little more, which are being enlarged to 2,500 metres (8,202 feet). The usual bottom width in these curves was 184 feet, but this is being increased to about 230 feet. The Kiel Canal has four curves with a radius of 1,000 metres (3,284 feet).
[15] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 178.
A reference to the accompanying plan (vide Map, end of volume) of the Panama Canal will show that most of the curves are situate in Gatun lake, where the width of the canal proper is large, and where the spread of shallower waters secures better steerage.
Thus the high-level Canal is not only deep and wide, but also much freer from troublesome curves than might be supposed from a casual inspection of its course. The details of the bottom width of the high-level Canal in its different parts are as follows:—
| Feet. | |
| From the Atlantic entrance to Juan Grande (27 miles) | 1,000 |
| Juan Grande to Bas Obispo | 500 |
| Bas Obispo to a point about half-way between Empire and Culebra | 300 |
| Culebra Cut nearly to Pedro Miguel lock (about 4 miles) | 200 |
| Pedro Miguel to Pacific entrance | 500 |
100-TON WRECKING CRANE, GORGONA.
INTERIOR OF MACHINE SHOP, GORGONA.