Fwd: Arrival In Panama

The view from our dock --Bridge of the Americas

Hello Everyone!

We have finally made it to our first port, Panama City, Panama. This morning we had our mooring stations at around 0015, we were tied up alongside at around 0115. After our pre port briefing last night which was at 2000 we were told that customs would be coming on board at around 0700 this morning to do what we called a passport parade. This is when customs comes and we all walk around one of the large passageways on the ship and fill out a customs form and they scan our passport. We are currently waiting for this to happen because the customs department is still not here. This is just a formality as if they do not show up it is not a huge deal, they will get all of the information from the ship records.

The first day of liberty is always a little slow for the division that can go out because we need to get our computers, shack, and gangway all set up. This is all for ship security which I talked about in a previous blog. So divisions 1, 2, and 3 are currently playing the waiting game until liberty is granted, while division 4 is on maintenance and watch on the ship all day!

I will write to you later and tell you about all of our fun excursions!

Until then!

Courtney

The Bridge of the Americas spans the Panama Canal, which is perhaps the most important public works project in history. Made of steel and reinforced concrete, the bridge is 5,425 feet long, and at high tide, the clearance is 201 feet, under which ships crossing the canal must pass.

The bridge is not just useful, it’s beautiful. Seen from different angles, whether on a sunny or cloudy day, at sunset or when it is brightly lit at night, the Bridge of the Americas is a piece of world history worth the effort to see.

If the Bridge of the Americas looks a little familiar it should, as it is the same style bridge that is closer to home, that is the Bourne bridge which spans the Cape Cod Canal. Both bridges are examples of arch bridges.

An Arch bridge is one of the most popular types of bridges, which came into use over 3000 years ago and remained in height of popularity until industrial revolution and invention of advanced materials enabled architect to create other modern bridge designs. However, even today arch bridges remain in use, and with the help of modern materials, their arches can be build on much larger scales.

Identify and explain the function of the parts of an arch bridge.

Learn how bridges are designed to meet load, stress, and aesthetic challenges. 

Work with a team to design and test a scale bridge.

Learn the basic design of bridges

Try this bridge building lab

Building Big These virtual labs show how load, forces, materials, and shapes effect bridges