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Widening Gatun Lake, As Part Of The Panama Canal

Barges Hauled Dirt
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Barges used to haul away dirt removed from the lake bottom were parked at a maintenance yard.


Widening Gatun Lake external link As Part of The Panama Canal external link   •  9° 10' 37.26" N, 79° 49' 54.22" W   •  (Photo taken 13:56:48 Sunday 25 May 2014)   •  (Photo posted Friday 27 June 2014)   •  © 2014 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C14_2675
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A Really Big Crane
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A really big crane on a barge was part of the equipment used to widen the lake and to build the new Post-Panamax locks.


Widening Gatun Lake external link As Part of The Panama Canal external link   •  9° 10' 37.26" N, 79° 49' 54.22" W   •  (Photo taken 13:57:22 Sunday 25 May 2014)   •  (Photo posted Friday 27 June 2014)   •  © 2014 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C14_2678
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Tug Boats Parked
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Two tug boats were parked behind a barge with a small crane on it.


Widening Gatun Lake external link As Part of The Panama Canal external link   •  9° 10' 37.26" N, 79° 49' 54.22" W   •  (Photo taken 13:58:52 Sunday 25 May 2014)   •  (Photo posted Friday 27 June 2014)   •  © 2014 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C14_2678
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Widening Hills
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Widening the lake meant removing dirt from hills alongside the lake. Here was a hill being tapered back by creating stair steps on its face.


Widening Gatun Lake external link As Part of The Panama Canal external link   •  9° 10' 37.26" N, 79° 49' 54.22" W   •  (Photo taken 14:48:09 Sunday 25 May 2014)   •  (Photo posted Friday 27 June 2014)   •  © 2014 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C14_2697
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People For Scale
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People barely visible on this hillside demonstrated the scale of construction being undertaken.


Widening Gatun Lake external link As Part of The Panama Canal external link   •  9° 10' 37.26" N, 79° 49' 54.22" W   •  (Photo taken 14:48:13 Sunday 25 May 2014)   •  (Photo posted Friday 27 June 2014)   •  © 2014 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C14_2699
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Demolition Barge
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A specially constructed barge that drilled holes in the bottom of the lake and then placed explosives into those holes to blow up the lake bottom for removal. The red shack in the lower right carried the explosives. Notice the stair-step of Culebra Cut external link (Gaillard Cut) behind it.


Widening Gatun Lake external link As Part of The Panama Canal external link   •  9° 10' 37.26" N, 79° 49' 54.22" W   •  (Photo taken 14:54:17 Sunday 25 May 2014)   •  (Photo posted Friday 27 June 2014)   •  © 2014 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C14_2708
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Face Of Culebra Cut
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The face of Culebra Cut external link (Gaillard Cut) with blocks bolted to its face to help hold the mountain in place. Culebra Cut is notorious for its landslides.


Widening Gatun Lake external link As Part of The Panama Canal external link   •  9° 2' 34.79" N, 79° 38' 47.74" W   •  (Photo taken 14:57:30 Sunday 25 May 2014)   •  (Photo posted Friday 27 June 2014)   •  © 2014 Terry Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #T14_0770
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Old Road Along Cliff Face
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An old road along the face of Culebra Cut external link (Gaillard Cut). The road lent scale to the massive size of this man-made cliff as part of the widening to make the lake continuous from coast to coast.


Widening Gatun Lake external link As Part of The Panama Canal external link   •  9° 2' 34.79" N, 79° 38' 47.74" W   •  (Photo taken 14:59:37 Sunday 25 May 2014)   •  (Photo posted Friday 27 June 2014)   •  © 2014 Terry Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #T14_0773
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