g Washington
Taking for an example the Panama Canal, the locks had one major purpose. They equalized the water level between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
mesopotamia
The ship's beam is usually located at the midpoint of the ship and is considered to be that point where the ship is the widest. The ship's beam is a very important consideration when transversing a canal.
Ships have been around since the Phoenicians started their trade empires around the Mediterranean. Probably before.
g Washington
It is the longest big-ship ( as opposed to sub-sized barges) canal of its type in the World. It is a sea-level canal and does not require locks. it had movable bridges for traffic control at one time- but these were not, strictly speaking, hydraulic locks.
The original Erie Canal had 83 locks. The canal was improved and the number of locks went down to 72 locks. The canal was improved again and now there are only 35 locks.
Locks in any canal serve to raise or lower a ship to the level of the water in the next segment of the canal so it may continue through. They are used when an elevation change is too severe for a natural navigable waterway to exist.
The "Locks" are long narrow chambers with gates at each end that lock the water in. A ship goes into a chamber, the gates are closed and water is pumped in or out to raise or lower the ship to a new level. The Panama Canal has three sets of Locks. The Gatun locks are on the Caribbean side. Ships go into the locks at sea level. The gate is closed. Water is pumped in and the ship rises to the level of Lake Gatun. The ship sails across the lake and the canal and enters the Pedro Miguel Locks where it is raised again. It sails across the canal and enters the Miraflores locks where it is lowered to the Pacific Ocean's sea level. Reference: ADDED: It is not usual to pump water uphill on a canal, and it is never pumped downhill. That's what gravity's for! Normally a canal above sea-level is designed not to need no pumping because it can be kept topped up from streams flowing off land higher than its highest reaches; though if these natural sources are reduced or lost then pumping would be necessary. The problem facing the Panama Canal is of the highland streams being reduced by land use such as deforesting.
No. Most, but not all, other canals have canal locks. Most canals are not built on flat land. Another without locks is the Corinth Canal.
Yes, and as a full-scale Ship canal- not something for narrow-gauge ( in comparison) Barges, such as the Erie Canal and others which used draft animals- often Mules- Draft animals in both senses ( ask the Army?) The Suez canal does not have locks- it did= may still have movable bridges for personnel to access the gates- and for traffic control ( like toll gates on turnpikes) but in operation, ships run under their own power- a Canal Pilot has the Conn- giving the steering orders- and so it goes- no locks needed as it is a sea-level canal.
What are the similarties between the Panama Canal and the ballard locks
no
Locks are only needed when the ships need to be raised and lowered in altitude because of the terrain the canal crosses.
A group of joined locks on a canal is called a lock flight. This term refers to a series of interconnected locks that allow boats to be raised or lowered to navigate changes in water levels along the canal.
No locks on the Suez Canal