Panama Canal Lock - Case Study Example

The whole of the Guton Lock system works in three steps. The ship enters the first chamber at the Guton lock which is at the sea level on the Atlantic side. The water tight gates are closed after the ship get in to the first chamber. A valve is the opened to allow water from the second chamber into the first chamber until both chambers the water levels up. Following this equalization of the levels of water, the valve is the closed and the gate between the first and second chamber is opened for the ship to move to the second chamber (Sherman 35).

The first operation is repeated between the second and third lock to move the ship into the third lock which raise the ship to the Guton Lake water level. After closing of the final valve and opening of the final gate, the ship will have been raised up to 85ft to the Pacific Ocean water level. The forces that act on the first lock on the pacific side are majorly from the water in the Pacific Ocean that exerts pressure on the first gate. In the subsequent locks, forces act from both sides of the gates due to the water that is held inside the chambers.

The Key factor in the design of the Guton lock was the water. The lifting of the ships in the lock to the level of the Guton Lake is done by water (Ulrich 9). The water in the lock lifts the ship up to 85feet and floats the ship across the divide. After crossing the continental divide, the water is again used to lower the ships to the sea level in the opposite side of the ocean. This therefore means that water was the major important consideration in the construction of the Guton Lock just like in the other three locks of the Panama Canal.

In the design therefore, it was important to consider the force that the water exert on the locks. As more water is allowed inside the chamber of the lock, it exerts pressure to the walls. Another source of force on the walls of the lock chamber is the weight of the ship that is being raised by the lock up to 85 feet above sea