Future of Panama Canal - and how it works - by Patrick Dixon

Future of Panama canal - how it works. Panama economy and regional role in Latin America / North America, Panama canal, Colon free zone, banking, service industries, travel, tourism and retirement homes. Panama is rapidly growing and has a significant role to play in the regional economy as a hub for trade and financial services. Potential to become a " Dubai " with growth driven by huge container port, enormous free zone (90% of exports), tourism and retired people buying first or second homes. Comment by Dr Patrick Dixon, speaker at HSBC VIP lunch time conference event. (more)

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[pjvdixon]

Thanks - yes indeed building Panama Canal was a dangerous and had process - many died.

[floatncoffee]

everytime they tryed to dig deeper, storms would wash earth back into canal.. so they had to build locks...

watch "7 Wonders Of The Industrial World"

will tell you everything...great dvd

[pjvdixon]

They had to build locks so that ships could steam up the river and down the other side right across the country in navigable waters.

[jr240971]

I just came back from Panama and did a tour of the Canal. It is quite the sight. One comment I would like to add, when the rail cars are talked about in your video, they were referenced as "pulling" the ships. While on my tour, they had a live audio commentary as the ships were using the lock. They explained that the ships move forward under their own power and the rail cars provide only lateral and stopping force. I also thought that the cars pulled the ships through the locks.

[castr0j0rmar]

A Panama Canal lock chamber fills up in 8 minutes. 101,000 cubic meters of water are needed to fill a Panama Canal lock chamber. An average of 52 million gallons of fresh water are used in each transit. All water used in any lock chamber comes from Gatun Lake. This lake covers 163.38 square miles and was created when Madden Dam was built. At one time, Gatun Lake was the largest artificial lake in the world. Ships are raised 85 feet over sea level. This is the level of Gatun Lake.

[SolYSombre101]

Worst nonsense comment ever met.

[Spideymania]

My great-grandfather helped build the canal!

[terreplein]

@angu31a The French started their canal at Panama in 1880, and it was never successfully completed. The current panama canal was built between 1904 & 1914 by the U.S. I'm not sure where you got the idea that it "was started by the Americans and completed by the French".

[hukeeaboo]

@floatncoffee sorry but you are wrong,, storms would wash but you need the locks for the different levels of terrain.... for the lake gatun was flooded to store water for the canal..been there done that many times

[diegotutiven]

@jr240971 you are right, they dont pull the ship, they help the ship to stay straight, in order to move ahead, that way it wont hit the walls.

[angu31a]

I have been through the Canal a couple of times on large container ships, i was working on them. It was quite an experience and one I cannot wait to enjoy again. The Panama was started by the Americans and completed by the French. Oh and jlamb86 tankers are actually quite dangerous, all tools need to be earthed and even the torches need to be special, non sparking, because dependant on the type of cargo the smallest spark could ignite the cargo and blow the deck off the ship.

[FuelSniffer]

It took a lot of French and American lives to build the canal. Lets face it, it probably would never have been built because Panama would never have been able to put up the capital or ingenuity to build it. Panama can thank America for this one. Operating it is easy, building it was the hard part. Panamanians can be proud for what it gives to their economy, but the only thing they did was get lucky that their country was plotted on that area of land.

[VLombardi01]

I lived in panama back it the late 70's. We drove by this several times but i learned more about it just by watching this video.

[almafuertegmailcom]

Ever thought why you have so many non-english names of places and streets on your country? Because most of it is not yours at all.

You have no right to send your troops overseas, or control any piece of land beyond your own. The channel belongs to the Panamanians, and to the whole world, since it's a major piece of modern transportation. The Panamanians are doing a great work managing the channel, and they should be left alone to do whatever they please with their rightfully owned land.

[JOHN120391]

Panamà es el mejor pais del mundo nigun panameño puede decir lo contrario este pais no han dado comida ropa estudio un buena calidad de vida bueno unos mejores que otro pero mi Panamà lo amo viva Panamà

ALCANZAMOS LA VITORIA VIVA LA PATRO ISTMO DE RAZA Y ETNIA DE CULTURA DEL MUNDO............. BENDICIONES PARA TODO LOS PANAMEÑOS