It will cost 1.5 million at a time! Where is the most expensive toll station in the world?

When crossing the road, you have to charge a toll. Although it costs more than RMB 100 to drive for an hour or two in some expressway, it is indeed much more efficient than ordinary highways, and there are no traffic jams for several hours in the morning rush hour. It is understandable that the country has built a high-speed highway of several tens of millions, and it is understandable that car owners pay for it, including the maintenance costs in the later period.

The most expensive toll in the world is probably the Panama Canal toll station, which costs 6.5438+0.5 million RMB at a time, and this number is still rising. Are the ships coming and going really? Waste thousands of miles? Even if the toll is sky-high, there are still many people waiting in line to pay. China spends hundreds of millions on this toll station every year! Why is the Panama Canal, the only shipping hub in the world, so expensive?

Background of Panama Canal Construction

The construction of Panama Canal is closely related to its geographical location and historical relationship. /kloc-At the end of 0/5th century, as we all know, Columbus crossed the Atlantic from Spain to Cuba, Haiti and other islands, and later visited some countries in South America and Central America three times. Columbus discovered the new continent? . Just like the mysterious island full of treasures in Pirates of the Caribbean, the newly discovered American continent is so curious. What treasures will there be in that mysterious land?

The discovery of the new continent led to a large number of European immigrants, and then all South American countries became vassals of European powers. Every year, tons of Peruvian silver, Ecuadorian royal roses, tropical rainforest timber and Venezuelan oil are shipped to the suzerain and European markets.

The United States is adjacent to the Pacific Ocean on the left and the Atlantic Ocean on the right. However, because North and South America are connected by the long and narrow Central American land, there are only two ways to transport foreign trade goods. First, it must be transported from strait of magellan, the southernmost tip of South America, and the loss caused by the voyage with a total length of10.2 million kilometers can be imagined; Second, ships stay in Central America, such as Panama, unload their goods and transport them to the other side of the ocean by land. However, there is too much transportation in Panama, and it takes more than a month to unload, transport and change ships at a time, and the goods are easy to get moldy in the humid tropical rain forest.

So some people think, can we cut in from Central America and build a canal connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean to facilitate the passage of ships? The first person who put forward this idea was the Spanish in the15th century, but at that time they just talked about it and didn't come up with a specific plan. The road to digging canals is also long.

Channel mining process

/kloc-After 0/5th century, the Spanish decided to put the canal digging project on the agenda. Panama, the transit country of Spain at that time, was the best choice. It is a long and narrow land in Central America, not as anxious as the volcanic eruption in Nicaragua.

1534, King Carlos I of Spain ordered the exploration and excavation route, and paved a post road between the ridges with pebbles to prepare for the future excavation of the isthmus. Later, due to the detailed site selection and the Latin American War of Independence, the excavation plan was put on hold.

Until the middle of19th century, the isthmus of Panama was under the jurisdiction of Colombia. At that time, Colombia called itself New Granada. Knowing that it is a small country, it cannot complete such a huge project with the existing financial resources, so it began to negotiate with other countries to outsource the project, and talked with the United States and France. However, due to a series of unequal treaties, the project has never progressed.

Until 1878, France and the Colombian government reached an agreement, and the project was implemented by France and enjoyed a 99-year concession period. After the canal was put into use, it gave Colombia an annual income of about 5%. But French diplomat Fernand is in charge of this project? De? Rezeb, the Canal Engineering Company must be established in 5 years and completed in 12 years. He overconfidently relied on the experience of digging the Suez Canal connecting the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, without considering the special terrain of Panama or making a detailed construction plan.

40,000 workers from 55 countries are not adapted to dense forests and humid tropical rainforests, and many of them are infected with malaria and yellow fever. In the past, most of the budget funds of the project were used up, and only one third of the tasks were completed. France had to change the person in charge and negotiated with the Colombian government. The compensation of $654.38+million was postponed for four years.

After all, France did not complete this arduous project, and Colombia had to find the United States and sign the Treaty between the United States and Malaysia on the Construction of Canal. The United States paid $65,438+million for this waterway at one time, and then $250,000 per year. With the intervention of advanced technology, the United States finally restarted the project that had been delayed for many years and reduced the construction cost to $352 million. The trial of Panama Canal was completed on August 6th, 2004. This canal, which has rewritten the history of world navigation, has gone through more than four centuries from an idea to a reality!

Panama Canal is 8 1.3km long, 300m wide, and its narrowest point is152 m. In fact, the length of this canal is far from our Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, but the practical significance of the Panama Canal is extremely important.

It can connect the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean through 50,000-ton seagoing ships, so that ships can sail through the canal of 8. 1 km instead of sailing around the whole of South America, greatly shortening the route time between the Pacific Ocean and Europe by more than 20%. It is also known as one of the greatest projects in the19th century. Because of the hardships in the excavation process, it has been listed as one of the seven engineering wonders in the world as a bridge to the world.

The fate of China in Panama Canal.

When the Panama Canal was built, nearly 200,000 workers went south to join it in China, while many people in China died of various infectious diseases, floods and engineering accidents. In 2004, the Panamanian Congress passed a bill to designate March 30th as China Day every year to commemorate the contribution of China people to the construction of Panama Canal.

Because of this project, more China people stayed abroad permanently. Today, one tenth of Panamanian population of 3 million is of China origin. The social status of Chinese in Panama has gradually improved, from officials to ministers and presidents of national parliaments.

Of course, among the neighboring countries that use the Panama Canal the most, China, a big import and export country, charges 220,000 US dollars once through the canal, equivalent to RMB 6,543.8+0.5 million. After the sovereignty of the canal was returned to the Panamanian government, it was expanded for another nine years, which improved the transportation capacity of the canal.

At present, there are 6,543,807 ships passing through the Panama Canal every year, transporting more than 600 million tons of goods, so a toll of 2.55 million yuan will be charged, and the toll paid by China every year is also several hundred million yuan. However, compared with wasting time by detouring, this toll is also worth it. After all, the canal needs a lot of money for both construction and later maintenance.

Today, the Panama Canal spans the entire Panama Strait, runs through Central America and connects the two oceans. It carries cargo ships from all over the world and shows the highest level in the history of human architecture.