Facts and Stories
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--> A ship traveling from New York to San Francisco can save 7'872 miles using the Panama Canal instead of going around South America.
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--> In the fiscal year 1994 there where 14'029 transits, which carried 170.8 million long tons of cargo and paid US $ 419.2 million in tolls.
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--> The highest Canal toll was US $ 141,344.91 paid by the Crown Princess and the lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents by Richard Halliburton for swimming the Canal in 1928.
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--> The average time spent in transit from port to port (Panama to Colon) is approx. 8 - 10 hours.
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--> Until Lake Mead was formed by the building of the Hoover Dam, Gatun Lake was the largest artificial body of water in the world.
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--> During the Canal costruction days over 200 million cubic meters of material where removed. Placed on railroad flatcars it would circle the earth 4 times.