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Tom Scott did a video on this [1]. I'm only roughly approximating here, but that could probably lift just a dozen 40ft shipping containers each swing-up (perha

• andrewaylett 3y ago
  Not even that, I suspect -- it'll hold four 66' boats, so maybe six containers in each caisson? The canals it joins are traditional British canals, they're quite restrictive. Scaling it up to cope with neo-panamax-sized ships is left as an exercise to the reader. If you do try, remember that the Panama canal allows boats with a ~15m draft and just short of 60m height above the waterline, you're probably going to want more of a see-saw than a full wheel. (Also: correcting my comment above, the wheel only lifts to 24m: there are locks to get the rest of the way up (another 11m), avoiding needing to demolish a section of the antonine wall. So the wheel itself lifts slightly less height than the 26m on the Panama canal)
  • ProllyInfamous 3y ago
    I re-watched the video AFTER commenting (above); definitely wouldn't hold twelve 40ft containers (on each side)... plus it seems to have a 500Ton MAX (based on Tom's video about each side's perfectly-balanced weight, due to displacement).