The Panama Canal: A history and description of the enterprise
John Stuart Mill · en
Over thirty miles away at the southern extremity of the Culebra Cut the
vessel in transit will be lowered from the high-level lake 30 feet down
to the surface of another artificial lake much smaller in content, held
at a surface-height of 55 feet above sea-level. These are the
single-step duplicate locks known as the Pedro Miguel or "Peter Magill."
The construction of these locks required 770,000 cubic yards of cement.
On the west side of these locks is the other dam which, with the mighty
Gatun dam at the other end, holds up the waters of Lake Gatun. This
smaller dam is also of earth, and is about 1,400 feet long and 40 feet
wide at the top. It is subjected to a maximum "head" of water of 40
feet, but the average is from 25 to 30 feet. The length of the lake,
which is known by the pretty name of "Miraflores," between the Peter
Magill and the next set of locks, is about 2,000 yards, and the lake
itself covers about 1,200 acres. Its waters are held up at 55 feet
above sea-level by two dams at the Miraflores locks.
These are the third and last set of locks for a ship proceeding from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. They are in two steps, or, to use the more
technical expression, "two in flight," and they drop the vessel from the
Miraflores Lake at 55 feet elevation down to sea-level. It must be
noticed, however, that the fluctuations in the tide of the Pacific end
are about 20 feet, and that the height of the lake is given for mean
tide. In other words low water during "spring" tides is 10 feet below
the average sea-level. The maximum lift for these locks therefore will
be 65 feet. There are two dams holding up the waters of the Miraflores
Lake, one to the west of earth, and one to the east of concrete. The
former is 2,300 feet long and 40 feet wide at the top. The average
"head" to which it is subjected is 30 feet, the maximum 40. Its
construction is similar to that at Gatun. The concrete dam is about 500
feet long, and is provided with regulating works similar to and of the
same dimensions as those at Gatun, the crest in this instance being 39
feet above mean tide-level, with seven openings, allowing a discharge
of 7,500 cubic feet per second. The locks themselves will require
1,312,000 cubic feet of concrete. I should add that these dams at Pedro
Miguel and Miraflores are, unlike their big brother at Gatun, founded
upon the solid bedrock. There has, therefore, been no question as to
their permanence and stability. Moreover, as will have been noticed, the
pressure of water is only about a half of that at Gatun.