Details About Panama Canal

The Panama Canal was completed in 1914 under the administration of Teddy Roosevelt at a cost of $533 million, requiring 35,000 men and 10 years to build. An engineering marvel, no pumps are used in filling or emptying the locks or "steps" that rise and fall between the two mighty oceans on either side. The Canal saves 13,000 miles of ocean travel around the tip of South America for vessels that traverse the 51.7 mile course. It takes 58 million gallons of water for a single ship to descend the 85 feet from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and takes a mere 8 hours.