WORKING Receipts / 03
03 · THE PANAMA CANAL · posted 28 Sep 2026
The Panama Canal lifts ships twenty-six metres, and there isn't a single pump.
- Ships climb three lock steps at Gatun up to Gatun Lake, cross the Continental Divide, then step back down (one lock at Pedro Miguel, two at Miraflores) to the other ocean.
- Each step is a lock: a concrete chamber (110 × 1,000 ft) with gates at both ends.
- To raise a ship, the valves at the upper end open. Lake water falls through giant tunnels in the walls (culverts 18 ft across) and wells up through the floor.
- 20 cross culverts × 5 openings = 100 holes spread the water evenly to control turbulence.
- The ship simply floats up. To go down, the lower valves open and the water drains out. Gravity again.
- Even the gates run on the lake: its water generates the electricity for the gate and valve motors.
Line by line
Every claim, with its source.
All sources were re-read on 2026-09-26 on pancanal.com (the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá, ACP). The quotes are verbatim.
Source key
- [ACP-D] "Design of the Locks": https://pancanal.com/en/design-of-the-locks/
- [ACP-S] "Statement from the Panama Canal Authority" (Panama, 7 March 2002): https://pancanal.com/en/statement-from-the-panama-canal-authority/
- [ACP-B] "First Panama Canal Water-Saving Basin Filled…" (5 Feb 2016): https://pancanal.com/en/first-panama-canal-water-saving-basin-filled-testing-process-begins/
| Shot | Claim as spoken | Verbatim support |
|---|---|---|
| hook | "lifts ships twenty-six metres, and there isn't a single pump." | ACP-D: "Water lifts ships 85 feet above sea level to the surface of Gatun Lake" (85 ft = 25.9 m; the screen shows both units). "No pumps are used at the Panama Canal, the water does its work by force of gravity alone." |
| route | "climb up to Gatun Lake, cross the Continental Divide, then step back down to the other ocean." | ACP-D: "…to the surface of Gatun Lake, floats them across the Continental Divide and lowers them again to sea level in the opposite ocean." Steps: "Gatun Locks consists of three steps … one step at Pedro Miguel and two at Miraflores". |
| lock | "Each step is a lock: a concrete chamber with gates at both ends." | ACP-D: "All lock chambers have the same 110 by 1,000 feet dimensions"; the concrete of "the Panama Canal locks" is discussed at length; "the valves at the upper end … lower end"; "The lock gates, or miter gates". |
| fill | "valves open at the upper end. Lake water falls through giant tunnels in the walls, and wells up through the floor." | ACP-D: "To fill a lock, the main valves at the lower end of the chamber are closed, while those at the upper end are opened. The water pours from the lake through the large culverts into the cross culverts and up through the holes in the chamber floor." Culverts are "eighteen feet in diameter, running lengthwise within the center and side walls". |
| holes | "A hundred holes spread it evenly, to keep the water calm." | ACP-D: "smaller culverts run laterally under the floor of each lock chamber, 20 to each chamber. Each cross culvert has five openings for a total of 100 holes in each chamber … This large number of holes distributes the water evenly over the full floor area to control turbulence". |
| rise | "The ship just floats up with it." | ACP-D: "Water lifts ships…". |
| down | "the lower valves open and the water drains out. Gravity again." | ACP-D: "To release the water from the lock, the valves at the upper end are closed, while those at the lower end are opened." Plus "by force of gravity alone". |
| gates | "Even the gates run on the lake. Its water makes the electricity for their motors." | ACP-D: "Water also serves to generate electrical power for the Canal to run the electric motors that open and close the gates and valves and the electric locks locomotives." |
| cost | "Every ship uses about fifty-two million gallons of fresh water." | ACP-S (2002): "Vessels transiting the Panama Canal use 52 million gallons of fresh water in every transit." The screen dates it to 2002 and the original locks, with ≈197 million litres (US gallons × 3.785). ACP-B: "The water used during each lockage comes directly from Gatun Lake". |
| payoff | "the newer locks recycle sixty percent of their water in side basins." | ACP-B: "For each of the three chambers in the Agua Clara and Cocoli Locks, there are a total of three water-savings basins … allows the Canal to reuse 60 percent of the water used per lockage". |
What the drawing simplifies
- The profile of the route is not to scale, and the intermediate lake level isn't labelled.
- The lock section is schematic: in reality the culverts run in the side and centre walls, and the 20 cross culverts run under the floor.
Checked, and cut
the ACP's "saving 7 percent more than the existing locks" line, because its meaning is ambiguous.
Sources
- Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP), "Design of the Locks." pancanal.com/en/design-of-the-locks/
- ACP statement, 7 March 2002 (52 million gallons per transit). pancanal.com/en/statement-from-the-panama-canal-authority/
- ACP, "First Panama Canal Water-Saving Basin Filled," 5 Feb 2016 (60% reuse). pancanal.com/en/first-panama-canal-water-saving-basin-filled-testing-process-begins/
Found an error?
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