158 Book of Engineering 



passing another section of the canal the 

 final set of locks is reached, and these place 

 the vessel upon Pacific Ocean level. 



Of all the marvels of this feat of engineer- 

 ing the locks and their machinery are the 

 greatest. In these clever brains were allied 

 with skilful hands. Electricity is employed 

 to a greater extent than in any similar 

 undertaking. Thus, there are more than 

 200 distinct electric motors employed in the 

 lock houses, whilst there are the useful and 

 exceedingly handy electric locomotives, 

 already mentioned as employed upon towing 

 duties. Placed end to end the locks would 

 measure 6,000 feet and 60 motors are 

 devoted to the opening and closing of the 

 gates. 



There is a central control house, in which 

 the engineer in charge for the time being, 

 can see at a glance exactly what is happen- 

 ing at every lock, the state of the water 

 and the number of ships in course of 

 transit being shown upon the charts and 

 dials. Never was work so concentrated 

 as here. 



