Panama Canal Expansion

Port Townsend, today. I know, I know, this is supposed to be a railroad blog. But from time to time events occur that I am compelled to pass along to you. That's the beauty of a blog - flexibility!

I am will to bet you that you did not know there is a multi-billion dollar project underway to add a third lane to the Panama Canal. Don't feel bad, most people are pretty ignorant about the Canal and its history.

The expansion program quite literally began with a "bang"on September 3, 2007. Completion date set for 2014. Shown above is the artist conception of the third traffic lane locks at Miraflores, with its unique "water saving" basins.

My favorite line is "did you know the Canal runs north and south?" That's a good one to get a animated discussion going! I'll let you deal with that one for "extra credit."

At the Altantic end of the Canal, an equally imposing new traffic lane is being constructed at Gatum, shown here:

This document has all the facts you need to bring you up to speed on one heck of a challenging engineering feat, which rivals to completion of the original Panama Canal!

.Previously, I wrote about the Panama Canal Railroad, operated by Kansas City Southern, in the context of their state of the art Positive Train Control.