Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

SS Ancon makes the first-ever transit through the Panama Canal in 1914.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Construction of the original canal.

Its expansion will be over a year late, but nothing could delay the Panama Canal’s 100^th birthday. Opened opened to world trade on August 15, 1914, with the passage of SS Ancon, the 80-kilometer waterway has registered over 1,055,000 transits ever since.

A $5.2-billion third set of locks is now due for completion by Dec. 2015, which will allow the third lane to open for commercial traffic in the first quarter of 2016. The Panama Canal Authority initially planned to open the new locks in October this year, and the delay will mean $300 million in lost revenue. The U.S. handed over the canal operations to Panama in 2000.