The canal involved thousands of workers at a cost of over $350 million and approximately 26,000 lives lost during construction. finally opening on 15th August 1914 when the SS Ancon made the first official crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Three sets of enormous locks raise the ship up to 85 feet above sea level. There are four ropes attached to the ship, two on each side. These ropes are not to pull the ship through the canal (the ship goes forward under its own power) but to keep the ship straight and in the middle of the lock. There seemed to be only inches to spare on each side. The ropes are attached to "mules" which run along tracks on each side. We semed to be very close to ships coming the other way!
