Why does the Panama Canal have canal locks while the Suez Canal doesn’t have any?
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Panama is a mountainous country, plus a lot less digging was done on the Panama canal by running it through a lake that’s above sea level. As a result, a boat entering needs to be raised up to the level of the lake on one side and then lowered back down to sea level on the other.
Egypt, however, is very flat, so when the Suez canal was built, they could just dig a trench all the way through to the Red Sea, which is also at sea level. This fact also makes expanding the canal much easier because you don’t have. A limit on the length of ships that can fit through it, as well as widening the canal means you don’t need to modify any locks.
Panama also has the disadvantage of the fact that every time they open the locks, they lose fresh water from the lake, which is a major source of drinking water for the country.
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