Comments by "Scott Franco" (@scottfranco1962) on "The World's Shortcut: How the Panama Canal Works" video.

Ships go UP and OVER Panama. The rainfall into the lake is what powers the system. It was a work of genius after the French found that a sea level canal wouldn't work. I flew into Panama city once at dusk, the sight of all of those ships lit up waiting for the canal was an impressive sight.
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@echonozz8929 Two reasons: 1. Turns out Panama is not flat. The canal would have to be level. A lot more digging would have to be done to get down to sea level. 2. The Pacific and the Atlantic ocean are not at the same level. You would have a constant flow in one direction. The suez canal didn't have either of these factors going against it, so it worked. The French tried the same thing in Panama and stopped.
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