Ep 4. Panama Canal

The third season of the documentary series Build It Bigger features its fourth episode titled Panama Canal, which revolves around the expansion of the historic Panama Canal. In this episode, viewers are taken on a fascinating journey through the process of enlarging the Panama Canal, one of the world's most critical waterways that links the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.

The episode begins with an overview of the canal's history, explaining how this route has been used by ships, boats, and other vessels for over a century to avoid the lengthy and often perilous journey around the southern tip of South America, towering icebergs, and treacherous weather conditions. However, as the ships and cargoes have gotten bigger, the canal has become too small and narrow to handle the traffic.

To address this constraint, builders embarked on an ambitious plan to expand the canal's shipping lanes, installing new locks capable of handling the larger post-Panamax ships that can carry up to 14,000 shipping containers. In the episode, viewers get to see how the project was executed, including how the Panama Canal Authority contracted with global construction companies and dredging operations to undertake the ambitious expansion.

Viewers are given an inside look at the five-year-long endeavor, which included the creation of two new channels, the deepening of the canal's navigational channels, the installation of new locks and gates, and the excavation of more than 80 million cubic meters of dirt and rock. The episode highlights the variety of construction equipment and techniques required for such an extensive project, from massive dredgers to the drilling of underwater tunnels and the installation of the gigantic new locks.

Through on-site visits and interviews with architects, engineers, and construction professionals, the episode provides an in-depth insight into the technological and technical challenges involved in expanding the Panama Canal. For example, viewers learn about the different soil layers that needed to be excavated, the complexities of tunneling under the canal, and the logistics of acquiring and moving heavy materials across the canal zone.

The episode also explores some of the environmental impacts of the canal expansion. The program examines how constructing the canal affected the locals, both in terms of the economic opportunities created by the expansion, and the environmental impact of such a vast project. Viewers see that the massive dredging and excavation activities stirred up sediments that damage marine ecosystems off the canal's coast and that the environmental measures taken to reduce the damage included replanting trees, restoring the ecosystem, and promoting reforestation programs.

Overall, this episode of Build It Bigger offers viewers a fascinating behind-the-scenes journey into one of the world's most important construction endeavors. Through interviews with architects, engineers, and construction professionals, viewers gain a deeper appreciation of the technologies and practices involved in massive construction projects, as well as their social, economic, and environmental impacts. Anyone interested in large-scale engineering will surely find Panama Canal an informative and captivating episode.