Pacific View of the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a 77.1km (48-mi) shipping canal located in the Central American country of Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The canal stretches through a narrow passage in Panama and is a key channel for international maritime trade. Initially, two water locks were constructed, one at each end, they were designed to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, which is 85 feet (26 m) above sea-level; this feat reduces the amount of work required for a sea-level connection. The completed locks were 110 feet (33.5 m) wide.
Construction on the canal actually began way back in 1881 by the French government but was abandoned in 1889 due to engineering problems and an excessive worker mortality rate; a second effort was initiated in 1904, and was completed 10 years later in 1914 by the United States government. This construction effort made it possible for ships to avoid the lengthy Cape Horn route around the southern tip of South America known as the Drake Passage and to avoid sailing the dangerous waters of the Straits of Magellan positioned along the southern edge of South American.
The Panama Canal is one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the resulting “shortcut” made it possible for ships to travel to and fro the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in half the time formerly required. The new shipping lane saved a distance of around 3,000 miles (4,828 km).
Ownership of the territory that is now the Panama Canal was held by the South American country of Colombia beginning in 1819; followed by the French government, then the US government; and finally coming under the control of the Panamanian government in 1999; 96 years after becoming an independent nation. The Canal witnessed its annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships when it opened in 1914, to 14,702 vessels in 2008 . . . By 2008, more than 815,000 vessels had ventured through the canal, many of which was larger than the imaginative planners could have possibly envisioned. The 1,000,000th ship passed through the Panama Canal (the Chinese freighter the Fortune Plum) on September 4th, 2010.
It may surprise you to learn that the Panama Canal was too narrow to fit 92% of the world’s shipping fleet through its passage way until a third, wider lock was constructed (the renovation began in September of 2007); the expanded canal began commercial operations on June 26, 2016 at an estimated cost of 5.2 Billion US Dollars. The original cost of the entire canal in 1914 US Dollars was around 639 Million; that would be equivalent to 14.3 Billion (with a B) in 2007 US Dollars, when inflation is factored in. Regardless, you should not be surprised to learn that not a single Radio Controlled (R-C) piece of “construction equipment” was used during ether phase of the Canal!
Yet another huge project of a more recent date; likewise was constructed absent the assistance of modern R-C Construction Equipment. You’ve likely heard a lot said & told about Pikeville, Kentucky; most likely as the city best known for the legendary Hatfield – McCoy feud. If memory serves, it was the McCoy’s who lived in Pike County (Pikeville’s the county seat), or was it the Hatfield’s? In any event, it makes little difference to anyone today.
These days, there is another worthy topic of discussion that comes to mind whenever the city of Pikeville & Pike County Kentucky is mentioned. The positive effect it has on anyone who elects to visit the small eastern Kentucky city or is perhaps just driving past will surely have an effect that lasts a long, long time.
It’s called the “Pikeville Cut-Through” and is a rock cut created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through which passes a four-lane divided highway (‘Corridor B’/ routes US 23, US 119, US 460, and KY 80); a railroad line (CSX), and the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River. There is a reason the corridor is such an impressive sight to see, in light of the little known fact that it’s one of the largest civil engineering projects in the entire western hemisphere; nearly 18,000,000 cubic yards (14,000,000³ m) of soil and rock were moved, although that’s a distant 2nd to the Panama Canal which moved an estimated 240 million cubic yards of material . . . Regardless it will remain an impressive accomplishment and site for many years to come. . . . Cut-through image depicted below:
The project was originally envisioned by Dr. William Hambley back in 1960; you see; he had been raised in the city of Pikeville, so you could say he had a special interest. He’d longed to relocate the rail bed with hopes of eliminating the dust that came from coal hauling trains that passed through the city on a daily basis. By 1965, the good doctor’s plan had broadened to accommodate “Corridor B” of the Appalachian Development Highway System; along the way it was also decided there was a need to relocate the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River, which then twisted through the downtown area of Pikeville. Such a task would completely eliminate flooding events that occurred practically every year. To off-set costs, the river bed (after being re-routed) was reclaimed or “filled-in” with a good bit of the material generated during the cut-through process; increasing the available space for development and further growth of the city.
Construction on the Pikeville Cut-through began on November 26, 1973; the project was officially dedicated / opened on October 2, 1987, nearly 14 years later.
Even though Radio Controlled (R-C) Construction Equipment similar to the “fleet” available today in many modern on-line hobby-stores like Hobby Tron, had not likely been thought of in 1881 when the first construction efforts were made on the Panama Canal nor was such equipment readily available in late 1973 Pikeville, KY; regardless, it’s safe to theorize that if such equipment had been utilized, both efforts would still be ongoing.
Regardless, such R-C Equipment is readily available today for anyone’s Sandbox Project . . . We strongly suggest you shop for your Construction Fleet by Clicking Here!
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