on the; UPPER chagres 



This picture gives some idea of the many beauty spots found along the banks of the Chagres 



River 



and Pacific will mingle in this canal, I 

 think that two statements of fact will 

 dispel that idea forever. 



One of the statements is that for about 

 32 miles this canal is 85 feet above the 

 level of the Atlantic and Pacific. The 

 second statement is that water will not 

 flow uphill. 



HOW THE CANAL, IS DESIGNED 



What has really been done is that a 

 great dam has been built across the lower 

 end of the valley of the Chagres, entirely 

 blocking the flow of that river to the sea. 

 The height of the dam and spillway is so 

 fixed that the Chagres River will rise and 

 rise until it reaches a stage 85 feet above 

 the level of either ocean. At this stage 

 the Chagres River will form a lake 165 

 square miles in area and 45 feet above 

 the bottom of the cut that has been made 

 through the Continental Divide at Cu- 

 lebra. 



The Chagres, therefore, can flow into 

 both oceans — to the Atlantic through the 



locks at Gatun and to the Pacific through 

 the locks at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. 

 The water of the Gatun Take not needed 

 in passing ships through the locks goes 

 to the Atlantic Ocean through a spillway 

 (see page 170) . 



THE BREAKWATERS AT COLON 



Starting at the Atlantic side, the first 

 work that has been done is the construc- 

 tion of the west breakwater at Colon. It 

 was thought that that breakwater would 

 be sufficient to insure a safe harbor. The 

 line of the canal at Colon is due north 

 and south, and the most destructive 

 storms, the "northers,' 1 are from a little 

 west of north ; so that the west break- 

 water will provide a safe anchorage for 

 ships during such storms. 



The prevailing winds at Colon, how- 

 ever, are the trade winds, that blow from 

 the east or north and continue for more 

 than nine months of the year. These 

 winds do not produce a sea destructive 

 to shipping, but they make a rough bar- 



