4月16日CNN聽力：巴拿馬運河擴建工程或將在2016年落成
[本日CNN聽抄音頻時光：02分40秒]
For the first time in 50 years, the leaders of Cubaand the U.S. sat down together for meaningful talkson Saturday.The two governments are workingtoward normalizing relations that have been largelycut off since the cold war.
President Obama says it's time to try somethingnew, though some U.S. lawmakers criticize him forengaging what they see as a corrupt government.
On the Cuban side, President Raul Castro said there could be some stumbling blocks in repairingties, but they could be overcome.
One complication, Venezuela. It's an ally of Cuba, but a rival of the US. And VenezuelanPresident Nicolas Maduro said he respected, but didn't trust President Obama.
All of this happened at the Summit of the Americas, a meeting of Western Hemisphere leaders.The location for this year's event was Panama.
The Panama Canal is an engineering marvel that connects the world through a series of gatesand locks. It's been bringing in about 2 billion worth of revenue since 2010 and profits areexpected to double with the addition of a deeper, wider, bigger third lane of traffic.
As it stands today, about 14,000 ships cross through the canal every year. And hear this-about 60 percent of that traffic either starts or ends at U.S. ports.
Ships are loaded with about 4,500 20 foot containers. Now, fully loaded container vessels takeabout eight to 10 hours to cross the 15 mile canal.
And hear this, they pay about 450,000.
The expansion is set to be completed in 2016, accommodating post-Panamax ships. Nowthese vessels hold about 13,000 containers.
It will take those vessels about 14 hours to cross the canal. No word yet on the additionalcost. But here is what we do know. Before those post-Panamax ships can cross the canal, a lotof work needs to be completed, creating a new 6.1 kilometer Pacific Access Channel, deepeningof the Pacific and Atlantic entrances and perhaps what has captivated most people is the newsystem of locks and gates, requiring more than four million cubic meters of concrete, which ispoured by thousands of workers. And 16 gates-those were built in Italy. The tallest of those, 11 stories high.
The expansion will cost more than 5 billion and it will take more then eight years to complete-an engineering wonder that makes the world a smaller place.
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