Ships pass through a series of locks. These locks raise a ship to the level of Gatun Lake at the canal entrance on the Atlantic side. They lower the ship back to sea level on the Pacific side.
船只通过了一系列的船闸后。船只开到大西洋一侧的运河入口时,被升到和加通湖的一样的高度;船只开到太平洋一侧的运河入口时,被降到和海平面一样的高度。
For years, shipbuilders limited the size of many ships so that they could fit through the Panama Canal. But now many shipping companies use bigger ships to transport more goods as a way to reduce costs.
多年来,造船商严格控制船只大小以便船只顺利航行于巴拿马运河。但是,现在有不少航运公司用大型船只做物流减少成本。
Jorge Luis Quijano says the expansion project will allow many of these larger ships to use the canal.
JORGE LUIS QUIJANO:巴拿马的扩建计划会方便更多大型船只的通行。
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Workers are building the new locks alongside the old ones, which will remain in use. The existing locks are three hundred five meters long and thirty-three meters wide.
工人们正在旧船闸的一侧修建新的船闸,这些旧船闸将继续使用。现有的船闸长350米,宽33米。