Panama Canal Workboats
There are various types of workboats used to operate and maintain the Canal. Here is a sampling of the ones we saw.
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Line handlers and other crew are transported to and from ships via workboats such as this one. They have extensive grabrails around the decks so that one hand can can hold on to the rail while the other hand grabs the ladder on the ship. |
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There are many buoys in the Canal which have to be serviced. The crane on the boat makes it easy to lift equipment or even the buoy. |
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This is one of the survey boats used to find depths, position of hazards, and perform general mapping in the Canal. |
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There are numerous lights mounted along the banks of Gaillard Cut. They illuminate the shore at night to help a pilot line up and keep a ship in the channel. Here vegetation is being clipped and the lights serviced. |
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This is one of the bucket dredges used for channel maintenance. The large vertical posts are pilings driven into the river bottom to anchor the dredge while the bucket scoops up the mud. |
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This is TITAN one of the worlds largest heavy-lift cranes. I believe that it can lift over 100 tons, but it may be more. It was built in Germany just before WW II and was appropriated as war booty when it was in Panama after the war started. |
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This is also a heavy-lift crane but it is smaller than Titan. Notice the office building underneath the hooks to appreciate its size. |
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This barge drills holes into rock outcroppings and then inserts charges to blow them up. The rubble is then removed to widen the channel in the Canal. The barge currently is being used to widen the Gaillard Cut. |
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This is a floating dam used to close off a lock chamber while a lock gate is being repaired. It is floated into place in front of the lock gate and sunk with the edges against the lock wall. This closes the flow of water while the chamber is being emptied. The lock gate can then be removed for service or replacement. |
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Last revised 08/10/01