Culebra Cut

The Culebra Cut is the excavated channel through the continental divide that forms the central land passage of the Panama Canal in Panama. It was a principal engineering section of the canal project completed during the early 20th century.

The cut is a long, engineered trench roughly 7.8 miles (12.5 km) in length carved through hilly terrain, framed by high banks and occasional retaining works. From canal observation points and nearby roads visitors can watch transiting vessels and see the scale of the excavation and canal traffic.

Excavation of the Culebra Cut was carried out by the United States after 1904 and completed as part of the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914; the work followed earlier failed French attempts. The cut required massive earthmoving and stabilization work and was later renamed Gaillard Cut after a lead U.S. engineer.

It lies in central Panama, cutting across the continental divide in the area between the Gatun/Panama Lake zone and the Pacific approach, within the broader Panama Canal corridor about tens of kilometers west of Panama City.

• Length: The cut is approximately 7.8 miles (about 12.5 km) long, running through the continental divide in central Panama.
• Construction period: Constructed by the United States between 1904 and 1914 as a key section of the Panama Canal, it was a major engineering and earthmoving project of its time.