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Out of curiosity, what would happen if they decided to get rid of the locks altogether and just let the water directly flow between the Atlantic and the Pacific

Out of curiosity, what would happen if they decided to get rid of the locks altogether and just let the water directly flow between the Atlantic and the Pacific through it? I assume that there would be a current that would erode the surrounding environment, but how bad would it really be?

cdchn 3y ago
I thought part of the reason they have the locks in general is there is a lot of elevation change, digging a "straight line" through would have been enormously more work.
iancmceachern 3y ago
It would not work. The locks are like a ship elevator. If they weren't there the inland waterway would drain and there wouldn't be water to float on anymore.
simple10 3y ago
The canal is significantly higher than the ocean. The French tried and failed to dig a canal straight through and the eventual solution was to use locks to raise the ships on each side and then lower on the other side. I'm not sure why they can't just pump ocean water up into the canal. Perhaps it's just too much water to be feasible.
- baud147258 3y ago
  > The French tried and failed to dig a canal straight through The French did change their plans to use locks after a few years of work
  - Affric 3y ago
    Cowards. But more seriously interesting to see that the New Jersey Style wins again.
  - anfilt 3y ago
    That was in 1880 though. Excavation equipment was not as capable as it is today. Today I bet it would be possible to get rid of the locks, but it would not be cheap. like digging down 25 meters has been done numerous times all over the world. But having to do that for I think like 70 to 80Km distance wise from would not be cheap.
- mschuster91 3y ago
  > I'm not sure why they can't just pump ocean water up into the canal. Because that would wipe out the ecosystem there, the canal is freshwater while the ocean is saltwater.
- cranky908canuck 3y ago
  The electricity to do that would (in the near term) be hydroelectric, so in energy terms you'd be chasing your own tail. I thought about this maybe being a usecase for small modular nuclear, another commenter suggested that that has already been done (when the US was running the show). Several others have commented on the environmental issues with pumping seawater into the freshwater ecosystems.
archon1410 3y ago
Googling it brings up a pretty interesting (and accessible) journal article on this subject by one Peter C. Hains, apparently the guy who "laid out the plans" for the canal: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25105376 https://www.jstor.org/stable/25105376
deleted 3y ago
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cdchn 3y ago

I thought part of the reason they have the locks in general is there is a lot of elevation change, digging a "straight line" through would have been enormously more work.

iancmceachern 3y ago

It would not work. The locks are like a ship elevator. If they weren't there the inland waterway would drain and there wouldn't be water to float on anymore.

simple10 3y ago

The canal is significantly higher than the ocean. The French tried and failed to dig a canal straight through and the eventual solution was to use locks to raise the ships on each side and then lower on the other side. I'm not sure why they can't just pump ocean water up into the canal. Perhaps it's just too much water to be feasible.

baud147258 3y ago
> The French tried and failed to dig a canal straight through The French did change their plans to use locks after a few years of work
- Affric 3y ago
  Cowards. But more seriously interesting to see that the New Jersey Style wins again.
- anfilt 3y ago
  That was in 1880 though. Excavation equipment was not as capable as it is today. Today I bet it would be possible to get rid of the locks, but it would not be cheap. like digging down 25 meters has been done numerous times all over the world. But having to do that for I think like 70 to 80Km distance wise from would not be cheap.
mschuster91 3y ago
> I'm not sure why they can't just pump ocean water up into the canal. Because that would wipe out the ecosystem there, the canal is freshwater while the ocean is saltwater.
cranky908canuck 3y ago
The electricity to do that would (in the near term) be hydroelectric, so in energy terms you'd be chasing your own tail. I thought about this maybe being a usecase for small modular nuclear, another commenter suggested that that has already been done (when the US was running the show). Several others have commented on the environmental issues with pumping seawater into the freshwater ecosystems.

archon1410 3y ago

Googling it brings up a pretty interesting (and accessible) journal article on this subject by one Peter C. Hains, apparently the guy who "laid out the plans" for the canal: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25105376 https://www.jstor.org/stable/25105376

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]