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Regarding this sentence:
"The Americans had lowered the summit of the cut from 59 metres (193 ft) to 12 metres (40 ft) above sea level, at the same time widening it considerably, and they had excavated over 76 million cubic metres (100 million cubic yards) of material."
I think this can not be correct. If the level of the water (of the artificial Gatun lake, approx the same as the River Chagres at the Cut) in the Culebra Cut is currently 26 meters above sea level, it is not possible that the level of the summit of the Cut was reduced to 12 metres "above sea level". It is possibly "above the water level of the river". Regards --Basquetteur (talk) 08:53, 6 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The earth was removed from 96m to 12m above sea level (the ocean). That is the bottom of the Culebra cut/Gatun Lake. When a ship is lifted 26m above sealevel through the locks, it floats 26m above sealevel and 26m-12m=14m above that bottom. That is needed for the draught of the ship (and some freeway below the ship). -DePiep (talk) 14:46, 6 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for the explanation. My poor understanding is that the sentence mentions the summit of the cut (the problem of the landslides) and not the bottom of the cut. The sentence should be imho "the Americans had lowered the bottom of the Cut to 12 metres above sea level". I do not see how they match the 59 metres in the sentence or the 96 metres you mention. regards --Basquetteur (talk) 20:56, 6 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, and this. The French already had dug the summit down to 59 ft when the US started (1904). Actually, the French dug meters. The bottom line story stays. -DePiep (talk) 23:43, 6 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
