THE PANAMA CANAL by Adam Boyle

Today (January 24, 2009) we traveled through the Panama Canal. It is an amazing engineering structure that was completed in 1914. There is a series of steps to enable ships to get through its 80 km. length that takes you from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

The Continental Divide is also passed through. This is the highest point where it is determined where waterways will drain or flow to either the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. For example, in B.C. there is also a point where the Continental Divide is.

Charles I of Spain ordered the first survey of a proposed canal route in 1534 but construction did not occur for about three centuries. It was the French that began construction in 1880. For 20 years they tried dredging out the canal but due to disease (malaria and yellow fever), financial, and engineering problems they had to stop. It is said that 20,000 people died during that construction period. So in 1904, the United States bought the French Canal Company rights and properties for $40 million and they began construction. The canal was completed in 1914 with a total cost of $387 million dollars with a loss of only over 500 lives due to injuries during construction. It is Leonardo da Vinci that is credited to be the mind behind the concept of the lock system.

The Panama Canal is made up of three pairs of locks that raise boats up 26 meters above sea level to the level of Gatun Lake that is situated in the middle of the canal system. It is interesting to note that this lake is a freshwater lake and the dam that was built to form this lake was the largest in the world at that time. As you transit through this lake channel, you then go to another series of three more locks called the Miguel Locks and the Miraflores Locks that lower boats to the sea level of the Pacific Ocean.

Construction is now underway to build an even bigger canal to accommodate larger vessels through the Isthmus of Panama.

I found it interesting that the canal is cut through a very thick jungle. It took us 10 hours to get through the canal and we were moving all of the time. Also, it is amazing how much ships must pay to use the system. Large cruise ships have to pay over $300,000 as a toll to use the canal. Lastly, it is impressive that a ship can save over 7,000 miles or 11,200 km. in distance traveled by using the canal rather than going around South America.

Contest 1 Update: How Far Are We Going?

Here’s your chance to win four movie passes for your family. You need to guess how far the Boyle family is going to travel on this adventure. The segments of our trip are as follows:

1. We flew from Calgary to Toronto and then from Toronto to Ft. Lauderdale where we boarded the Royal Princess cruise ship.

2. We will be on the cruise ship following the itinerary posted below concluding in Rome, Italy. Major stops include Ecuador, Peru, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia, India, Dubai, Oman, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Greece, France, Spain and Italy.

3. From Rome we fly to Frankfurt, Germany and from there we fly directly to Calgary.


Here are a couple hints. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is about 40,075 km. The distance traveled from Calgary to Ft. Lauderdale was 4,448 km. Brad's guess is 51,714 km.

You must reply to this posting or send us an e-mail at bboyle@shaw.ca no later than midnight, January 31, 2009 to be eligible to win the movie passes.

GOOD LUCK!

CONTEST #2 – ARE YOU A SUPER GUESSER?

Every contest page must have a Super Bowl pool of some sort, and ours is as follows:

1. Pick the team that will win Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009.

2. Guess the total number of points that will be scored by both teams combined.

3. The person who guesses the winning team correctly and has guessed closest to the actual total number of points scored will win our contest.

The winner will get a large pizza delivered for the finals of a future sporting event (Stanley Cup, Grey Cup, Super Bowl).

You must respond to this posting or send us an e-mail at bboyle@shaw.ca no later than midnight, January 31, 2009 to be eligible to win the prize.

Hint for Non-football Fans: The Arizona Cardinals are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Hint for Male Grade 8 Teachers: If you are living in a fantasy land and think that the Minnesota Vikings still have a chance to win, you will receive a visit by two men in white jackets from a nearby sanatorium institute. Congratulations!

Itinerary

Shown above is a visual and print copy of our itinerary on the Royal Princess. You can use this to assist in developing your answer to Contest #1.