Panama Canal: How It "Lifts" Massive Ships
Рет қаралды 376,589
2 жыл бұрынJoin our Exclusive Community over on Patreon: / casualnavigation
------------------ABOUT THIS VIDEO------------------
In this video, we investigate how the Panama Canal Locks are used to raise millions of tons of ships up 87ft, from sea level to the height of Gatun Lake.
We will also find out how water-saving basins allowed the locks to expand without using any more water.
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Panama Canal Map by Peter Hermes Furian / Shutterstock.com
------------------------DISCLAIMER-------------------------
All content on this channel is provided for entertainment purposes only. Although every effort has been made to ensure the content is accurate and up to date, it remains the responsibility of the viewer to determine its accuracy and validity. The content should never be used to substitute professional advice or education.
@SJITZ 2 жыл бұрын
I never thought a single KZfaq channel with such narrow focus would answer so many of my questions. Hope to continue seeing more! Happy 2022.
@nurphurecarnium 2 жыл бұрын
Exactly!!!
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Thanks. There is plenty more coming in 2022.
@iwatchwithnoads7480 2 жыл бұрын
@@CasualNavigation you've lived my childhood dream of seafaring and now educating millions ❤️
@robertlella6501 Жыл бұрын
Agreed! I really like what you are doing with this channel; it’s great! Thanks
@minchmeat 2 жыл бұрын
The amount of engineering that goes into shipping is fascinating
@JarrodFrates 2 жыл бұрын
Check out Chief Makoi if you haven't already. He's a certified chief engineer and talks about life at sea and the mechanics of the vessels. Much like Casual Navigation, he breaks down topics without talking down to his audience.
@ENCHANTMEN_ 2 жыл бұрын
I've been on a maritime video binge lately and wondered if I would enjoy working on a ship... then I remember that I'm terrified by the deep ocean 😂
@Kennar_ 2 жыл бұрын
*into make it cheaper therefore making more money
@JarrodFrates 2 жыл бұрын
@@Kennar_ It's also more efficient, using less energy and wasting less water.
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
I'd recommend his channel too. He posts great content.
@ENCHANTMEN_ 2 жыл бұрын
It's crazy how many engineering problems are solved with moving large amounts of water... and how many engineering problems are _caused_ by large amounts of water moving 😂
@danl6634 2 жыл бұрын
*Salton Sea has entered the chat*
@sirBrouwer 2 жыл бұрын
@@danl6634 the Netherlands also joined and takes over the chat.
@brrrrrr 2 жыл бұрын
@@sirBrouwer *the sea takes over the chat*
@sirBrouwer 2 жыл бұрын
@@brrrrrr The Netherlands takes over the sea. Drains that sea and build farmland on the reclaimed land.
@brrrrrr 2 жыл бұрын
@@sirBrouwer that's alotta work
@setharnold9764 2 жыл бұрын
I sure didn't expect a nine minute video to cover both per-ship amortized efficiencies and the intermediate pools, the information density and clarity here is really impressive. Good job :)
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it!
@baileywright1656 2 жыл бұрын
The Panama Canal is amazing. If you ever get the chance to go, they have a great museum at Miraflores. I was lucky enough to do a training course at the Canal Authority Admin Building - it is both gorgeous and full of history. The canal pilots are also awesome. They have to train with scale model ships as well as simulators and take their jobs EXTREMELY seriously. I would have loved to speak with some of the canal operators too, but we were mostly focused on navigation. Thanks for filling in some of the gaps!
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
That sounds really interesting. I've been through on ships, but never been able to get off and explore.
@MarkSmithSa 2 жыл бұрын
I'm a chartered marine engineer and have been through the Panama Canal twice: westbound and eastbound. I never knew this. A fascinating channel. Many thanks.
@mycroft1132 2 жыл бұрын
Chartered Maritime engineer sounds like a fascinating job, what’s does a day in the life of your job actually consist of?
@MarkSmithSa 2 жыл бұрын
@@mycroft1132 I was in the Royal Navy so no day was ever the same as another. As an example although a marine engineer I also boarded ships as a boarding officer during maritime interdiction operations.
@6038am 2 жыл бұрын
Gravity + water = Ship escalator. Such a simple yet powerful system.
@julianbrelsford Жыл бұрын
Honestly I thought they just pumped water upwards to move ships upwards. That would work but it'd use a lot of energy. What I *didn't* see in this video is how they obtain water at the highest elevation portion of the canal but I guess it must just be from a natural, rain-fed waterway?
@snailhawk 2 жыл бұрын
I live on a canal boat and I've been through hundreds of locks, including staircases but not anything as big as the Panama Canal! This is the best explanation of how it works that I've seen. Well done!
@simonmcnicholas 2 жыл бұрын
I used to love opening and closing the locks on the canals as a kid, we would hang around waiting for a canal barge to pass by, they were only to happy to let us kids do the work for them... still find it fascinating, really enjoyed this video cheers mate, keep up the good work
@morkovija 2 жыл бұрын
Let us navigate ourselves into a better year, ladies and gents. Happy new year everyone!
@willmorrell488 2 жыл бұрын
Unfortunately its only going to get worse from here.
@morkovija 2 жыл бұрын
@@willmorrell488 but at least for today we can try to forget ;)
@willmorrell488 2 жыл бұрын
@@morkovija Yes.
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year!
@hirnlos9462 2 жыл бұрын
hahaha NO.
@2639theboss 2 жыл бұрын
Already knew the answer to this, but liked and commented anyways.
@morfgo 2 жыл бұрын
You're so generous
@saschaberg8406 2 жыл бұрын
This. There's a difference between knowing the things and getting them explained, in detail, by a well spoken dude. Also, the water-saving badins WERE new to me, but they make so much sense, I wonder why I didn't think of them XD
@EdwardChan.999 2 жыл бұрын
@@saschaberg8406 I think Practical Engineering made a video about water-saving contraptions in locks before, it's good video too, you may want to check it out!
@aidankeys8534 2 жыл бұрын
And then for small ship, high displacement locks, a gravity hydraulic lift lock is even more efficient. The Trent-Severn waterway in Ontario Canada has two of these lift locks, only wasting about a foot of water each trip. It works by having a hydraulic system in the shape of an ‘H’ with a stop valve in the middle with two piston rams on either side holding up a basin each. The water depth on top is greater (about a foot or so) than the bottom so when in it's open position, one basin is gaining water and the other is losing water. When it's time to switch, the valve in the center opens and the side on top, due to it having more weight from that extra foot of water, let's gravity take control. This goes until it reaches the bottom and the valve is closed. At this point, both basins open up, restarting the cycle, now on opposing rams.
@ouzoloves 2 жыл бұрын
Having navigated the flight of locks at on a canal boat as a teenager, I really appreciate the effort needed to go up through them.
@Arthur_da_dog 2 жыл бұрын
1:02 - THAT'S MY CITY! THAT'S OTTAWA!! we don't get mentioned a lot outside of politics so this was exciting. Carry on
@Dovietail Жыл бұрын
A deeply memorable moment of my childhood was when we took our little ski boat through the massive locks at Kentucky Lake Dam. Massive barges go through that lock. Wow, I felt small!
@stanimir5F 2 жыл бұрын
This channel gives me answers to questions I have never thought about! Amazing!
@princecuddle Жыл бұрын
see this is the kind of things we should be taught in school. not the actual science behind it but the ingenuity behind it. Letting kids be fascinated by things like this would allow their brains to develop a more flexible mindset when it comes to getting solutions to complex problems.
@Trogdor98 8 ай бұрын
Used to Live in Port Colborne at the Lake Erie End of the Welland Canal. They use eight locks along the length of the canal to raise and lower ships the height of Niagara Falls between Lake Ontario and the higher elevation Lake Erie. It was always fun watching the ships come through town as a kid.
@michaellinehan710 2 жыл бұрын
I've never had the privilege of transiting either of the great canals (cries in non-world power Navy) - but the engineering marvel of the Panama Canal never ceases to amaze me! Outstanding video, I love watching videos on maritime concepts that this deck officer doesn't often get to be an expert in! 🚢
@balkman_4 2 жыл бұрын
It's funny, I started catching up on these videos because I haven't watched in a while, and I finished the last one I hadn't watched yesterday, then you uploaded today, so that was quite nice. On a seperate note, I'm from Canada and I was happy to see the locks from the Rideau canal. Happy New Year!
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year!
@azerwhite8870 2 жыл бұрын
I love this channel!! Didn’t know I had such a big interest in ships!
@GGN-92 2 жыл бұрын
Very but very clear explanations. Thank you.
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it
@marklowther2133 2 жыл бұрын
Great video, your animations never cease to make your videos wonderfully detailed yet concise and easy to understand.
@ALAPINO 2 жыл бұрын
What a lovely explanation video! I've spent most of my time around the great lakes: plenty of locks here to ogle.
@topphatt1312 2 жыл бұрын
Here in Canada Ontario we have the Trent Canal System. When I went up there last summer I heard about this really cool system to get boats from one lake to another. Basically it’s a train for boats where it comes in the water at one end, the boat drives in, and then the boat is driven across land to the other lake.
@brrrrrr 2 жыл бұрын
Sounds very interesting
@andyariza8108 2 жыл бұрын
I’m from Colombia (country next to panama) and I once went there, the place was stunning they even have a museum of their construction
@JasperHuskyFox Жыл бұрын
1:03 Eyyy!! The stunning "Rideau Canal Locks" in Ottawa! I saw those when I went to a convention, and they are absolutely STUNNING! Highly recommend!
@chris-hayes Жыл бұрын
Way more efficient and sophisticated than I expected, how cool
@Damien.D 2 жыл бұрын
Brillant explanation of the water saving technique.
@CrankyPantss 2 жыл бұрын
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this with us.
@elcastorgrande 2 жыл бұрын
Definitely a "bucket list" ride, the Panama Canal.
@PanicStation1337 Жыл бұрын
simply amazing video, answerd all the questions on olcks even the ones that i didn't know i had
@Invisableman111 2 жыл бұрын
I live near the C&O Canal in the USA and work in tourism. Thought I was the only one who found the ingenuity of canal locks fascinating!
@BIG-K 2 жыл бұрын
Superb explanation! Thank you!
@phillhart2990 2 жыл бұрын
I swear, every time I watch one of these vids I'm amazed. I'm also humbled at the lack of my own knowledge. I had no idea of the dynamics involved in this .
@Lightdasher360 2 жыл бұрын
I'd never heard of this, such an interesting design. Thank you for your work, and Happy New Year!
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year
@YounesLayachi Жыл бұрын
This is your best video yet !
@Arcticp75 2 жыл бұрын
These systems to save water and make the process more efficient are so fascinating! In the first example with the two ships in three locks, when I saw the second ship come in and realized it was going to piggyback off the first ship's water that was so cool. Thank you! I hope you can do more videos about systems like these!
@zansomrak2206 2 жыл бұрын
Awesome that you used a picture of Ottawa for the locks. There's even more of them there than in the picture and it looks spectacular.
@elmerj.7106 2 жыл бұрын
It is so very good and educational video. It helps Many seafarers to be aware of every situation occured at sea.
@N1njaSnake 2 жыл бұрын
Fascinating as always!
@LeClaw 2 жыл бұрын
Back in the early 2000's there was a Docu-drama series produced in the UK about the "Seven Wonders of the Industrial World" (seven episodes, one for each wonder) produced by the BBC. One of the Episodes was the Panama Canal, Showed pretty much everything from start to finish and the struggles of all the different ways to try to build it (the sea level canal mentioned was a disaster), multiple companies going bust. The struggles of the workforce and deaths from Yellow fever and eventually the US Government getting the army to build it in the form it is today. If you can can find it it's well worth a watch.
@natureboyy3 2 жыл бұрын
Amazing video, I love your topics, I'm looking out to your video's in 2022!
@PTron96 2 жыл бұрын
Living right next to the Welland Canal my whole life has been pretty cool. It's really interesting to see this technology in action on such a large scale
@bilelcho 2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the wonderful content
@RobSchofield 2 жыл бұрын
Fascinating! Good explanation.
@MCP53 2 жыл бұрын
I've lived for over five years on the English canals and locks are a major feature. My favourite is the Caen Hill flight of 16 locks at Devizes in Wiltshire. Each lock has a large side pound to enable it to work. The canal between locks is a pound anyway, but close together locks need extra help, and Caen Hill also has a pumping station at the bottom to assist at drier times.
@deniznegip5980 2 жыл бұрын
amazing, brother. Happy New Year!
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Happy new year!
@RichardCurrie 2 жыл бұрын
Excellently explained
@bc-guy852 Жыл бұрын
Fascinating indeed. What you don't know you don't know - until you know it!
@stephenbritton9297 2 жыл бұрын
Something else interesting to note, I learned when transiting the Panama Canal, when entering a lock, especially when you are panamax width and close to panamax depth, the propeller doesn't so much push you into the lock, as it acts as pump, pulling the water OUT of the lock, and allowing the ship to take up the volume displaced inside the lock. We would be at 1/2 ahead maneuvering, and be making about 1/2 of our Dead Slow Ahead speed as we entered. The other thing I learned that trip, if you don't keep an eye on the riding gang, they will flush chicken bones down the toilets and royally mess up the MSD tank!
@ryanotte6737 2 жыл бұрын
Huh, so you all needed to put some extra oomph into entering such a confined space because of the displacement that the ship took up trying to get inside. Interesting.
@stephenbritton9297 2 жыл бұрын
@@ryanotte6737 correct. Especially when you “barely fit” into the opening
@ryanotte6737 2 жыл бұрын
@@stephenbritton9297 Interesting indeed and thx for sharing a little engineering/practical tidbit about how such an important part of the global economy operates. Whether it be pulling the water out via the prop or thought of as the ship's hull pushing the water out of the confined lock space, either way there needs to be some extra work/energy/power applied to make it happen.
@stephenirwin2761 2 жыл бұрын
Nicely explained!
@c0de99 2 жыл бұрын
Haha ... and here i was thinking i knew how locks truly worked. Fascinating stuff!
@kylehome8818 2 жыл бұрын
Casual Navigation is a great channel
@davidbond8139 2 жыл бұрын
THIS CHANNEL > LIFE
@inevitableleopard3810 Жыл бұрын
I am loving this channel
@JayC0306 2 жыл бұрын
awesome video, I didn't even notice that I watched the whole thing.
@roadracing22 2 жыл бұрын
Love your videos! Thank you!
@petermgruhn 2 жыл бұрын
Never heard of the saving basins. Thanks.
@yasam9311 3 ай бұрын
great video. ingenious system. thanks.
@taylorwilson6655 2 жыл бұрын
Hi mate. Sort of new here. I've applied for the royal navy and have been using this channel to scoff up all the maritime information possible. Its been really quite amazing and helpful to realise how much there is to know, would you ever consider doing some videos on military vessels? I believe you did a video on stealth ships (or that might of been another channel) and submarines. Have you ever thought doing something regarding torpedoes? In both design, targeting, and how a ship would manoeuvre to avoid them. Keep it up!
@MateoJFR Жыл бұрын
Not inly did they do an awesome job explaining how the lock works, but they talked about the displacement of water from the lake! I never even thought of that being an issue. Then they answered my question I barely had time to ask.
@Simon-Zephyr 2 жыл бұрын
Okay not going to lie. The crane animation at the beginning did have me thinking there was some kind of mega crane. Then he said the word "Lock" and I quickly debunked that and understood it lmao
@hallamhal Жыл бұрын
I first remember learning about locks from watching Rosie and Jim, aged 6
@robbabcock_ 2 жыл бұрын
Truly fascinating!
@littlepastelkitten Жыл бұрын
I mean in the end, the answer was water. Kind of already knew that, but this is very informative! I learned something for once
@daetslovactmandcarry6999 2 жыл бұрын
Excellent work. Keep it up.
@nemesis7774 2 жыл бұрын
Seeing this episode about locks, It reminds me of the special locks / kind of dam that was used to partially remove the sand around the Mt-St-Michel
@emptywindexbottle97 2 жыл бұрын
I had no interest in naval technology before I found your channel, just an amazing channel. Every video is interesting!
@Lord_Foxy13 2 жыл бұрын
1:02 Hey that's the Rideau canal locks in Ottawa, Ontario Literally to the left of this is Parliament Hill...where I happen to work
@jamie_po2176 2 жыл бұрын
i love your channel man keep up the great work ❤️👌🏻
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoy it!
@Carstuff111 2 жыл бұрын
Well, second video I have watched... and yep, you hooked me. Happy to subscribe to an interesting and new to me channel, in the new year :)
@aguasadonas8346 Жыл бұрын
I’ve seen this mechanic used in most shipping games and it’s pretty cool
@ger128 2 жыл бұрын
I had no idea locks were so fascinating!
@mikehenthorn1778 2 жыл бұрын
I grew up on the Ohio river. I loved watching the barges going through the locks.
@timobatana6705 2 жыл бұрын
This is wonderful
@eduarddvorecky3731 2 жыл бұрын
If there is enough space between locks for ships to manoure, you can save more water still by letting rised ship come out of full lock, and send diferent ship down in the same lock.
@lyoukeefen7199 2 жыл бұрын
I’ve been on a boat through one of these. It was pretty cool
@richarddyasonihc 2 жыл бұрын
In this email country, we have approximately 4,200 miles of inland waterways. A large majority of which are canals. I spent six years living in a 62’ narrowboat. Considering that many canals have to cross mountainous and hilly parts of the country, this involves the use of many locks, however the canals often bore through hills in tunnels or use othe means to effect a transit from one level to another. The Anderson Boat lift is one, there used to be an inclined pain at Foxton and in Scotland there is an ingenious counter-balanced wheel at Falkirk. Locks are also used on navigational rivers, which hol water back to create weirs, accompanying them to effect a change of water level.in a flowing river.
@goose_2819 2 жыл бұрын
Happy new year from Australia!!!
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year!
@Abdullah-mn6sw 2 жыл бұрын
I used to think that the locks pumped water from the sea each time so the lake won't get drained.
@ENCHANTMEN_ 2 жыл бұрын
we just outsource that job to the water cycle 😂
@wabalaka1565 Жыл бұрын
I thought they pump them back and ford in between lock 😂😂
@romanmora6755 2 жыл бұрын
I love these videos
@petrosbright 2 жыл бұрын
Being a perfectionist Master myself and huge fan of your channel, the only mistake I can notice is the Capers used for Panama canal animations instead of Panamax vessels :) Keep up the great work!
@markwilson2561 2 жыл бұрын
I love this stuff
@nitehawk86 2 жыл бұрын
Talking about locks makes me think of Cruising the Cut. :)
@larry78cj7 2 жыл бұрын
Well done!
@examininglife4338 2 жыл бұрын
Very interesting!
@jimday666 Жыл бұрын
Wow, fascinating!
@EdwardChan.999 2 жыл бұрын
Watched a video from Practical Engineering before, but it doesn't hurt to refresh my memories :)
@Nexus-6 Жыл бұрын
Casual Navigation - the Wendover of the Seas. 🙂🍻
@FArkhanor 2 жыл бұрын
Fantastic video ! May I recommend one on the same topic from the channel PracticalEngineering, I think it complements it well !
@guitarheromartijn Жыл бұрын
You should check the krammen locks in the netherlands. It is a lock that connect salt with sweet water and because of this the lock seperates the salt and sweet water so it doesnt drain into eachother
@markdoble736 2 жыл бұрын
Of course, the Caen Hill central lock flight on the Kennet & Avon canal in Wiltshire, England, comprising 16 locks in succession, all have side ponds, enormously bigger than each of the locks, and was built over 200 years ago. It's still in use today, and although no where near on the same scale as the Panama Canal is still very impressive and a fine example of early civil and canal engineering.
@Tripp393 Жыл бұрын
I love how comical it gets by the end
@andrewoverton5170 2 жыл бұрын
I've been interested in canals for many years and read several explanations as to how staircase locks and pounds save water, none of which I've fully grasped. The graphics with your explanation made so much more sense. Very educational, thanks. My one question would be doesn't the bi-directionality of the traffic spoil the water efficiency of the Panama Canal locks somewhat, or do they use different sets for each direction? Does this help?
@snailhawk 2 жыл бұрын
Boats going in opposite directions save water as you don't need to fill the lock
@andrewoverton5170 2 жыл бұрын
@@snailhawk you need to think that through a bit better in light of the staircase lock situation referred to.
@ryanotte6737 2 жыл бұрын
I have some experience in marine engineering, though not with locks. In any case, you can see the satellite imagery of the Panama Canal locks and other lock systems throughout the world that have high bidirectional traffic, particularly crossing inland. The north end of Panama is particularly clear that the two sets are for bidirectional traffic. In general, these situations tend to use two sets for each direction from what I can tell. Practically speaking, I imagine there would be water savings given having the two sets could continue that sequential set of ships passing through that allows the multiple-locks and the water-saving basin setup to keep the water savings going as demonstrated in the animations. Reversing traffic direction would likely require draining much of that water savings built up. This seems like one of those scenarios where I am sure the experts considered traffic consistency and a number of other factors put into a equation set or design spreadsheet of some sort. How much they save by having two sets, I couldn't say.
@jasonreed7522 2 жыл бұрын
The St. Lawrence Seaway (Great lakes and St. Lawrence River) only has a single lock going around the Moses-Sounders Dam (which has 2 observation points, covid closed the one at the visitor center). Being on such a large river with relatively low traffic flows i imagine then can plan traffic to raise a ship and then lower a ship with the same water, effectively halving water usage on top of any other wayer saving methods employed. I also suspect that the whole system together counts as a ladder lock, just with many miles of river / lake / reservoir between them. (Technically we call the reservoir Lake St. Lawrence and I'm kinda fuzzy on where it ends and Lake Ontario begins especially since the Thousand Islands looks like a reverse river delta (they are made of rock though))
@aaronobrien7649 2 жыл бұрын
Casal Navigation is low key one of the best channels, all these channels that focus on topics that are interesting or even more general ones like poly matter are really the best youtube has to offee
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Thanks Aaron. Glad you like the content.
@frederiknielsen6038 2 жыл бұрын
I've been through the canal multiple times, why am I watching this?
@joaquinfabrega 2 жыл бұрын
I like the video, however we do not have snow in Panama so I do not understand the white in top of the mountains 😊
@HATECELL 2 жыл бұрын
Very interesting video, I knew the basics of locks but these water-saving tricks were new to me. Can you make a video about the Falkirk wheel? If I understand it correctly it doesn't use up any water, but require some electric power
@tylisirn Жыл бұрын
It is simply a heavy duty bearing and two buckets. The two buckets are always exactly equally heavy because ships displace their own weight in water, so if the ship floats in the bucket, the ship+water always weighs exactly as much as the water in the other bucket. Because the buckets are equally heavy you don't need any energy to lift them (the weight of one going up is balanced by the weight of other going down), just enough to overcome the friction of the bearing and inertia to get the buckets moving. it doesn't use any water because it puts back the same volume of stuff as it removes each cycle. Plus or minus the volume of the ship, but ship behaves similarly enough to "water" in a water system.
@crowleyokpebholo3464 2 жыл бұрын
What a informative video
@CasualNavigation 2 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it
@crowleyokpebholo3464 2 жыл бұрын
@@CasualNavigation yes I did, I'm studying to become an officer on board of a ship and this kind of videos, your content helps me understand more about the maritime industry and how everything works, thank you a lot
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