Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a canal 82 km (51 mi) long that cuts through the isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in Central America. The canal has a huge impact on shipping, as it removes the need for ships to travel the long and dangerous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn (at the southernmost tip of South America). The canal saves a total of about 18,000 miles on a trip from New York to San Francisco by sea.

History

The Early Ideas

The dream of a canal across the isthmus of Central America goes back to the 16th century. In 1524 King Charles V of Spain suggested that by cutting out a piece of land somewhere in Panama, the trips from Ecuador and Peru would be made shorter and allow for a quicker and less risky trip back and forth to Spain for ships carrying goods, especially gold. A survey of the isthmus and a working plan for a canal were drawn up in 1529. The European political situation and level of technology at the time made this impossible.

Related Topics:
Central America - King Charles V - Spain - Gold - 1529 - Technology

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The Panama Railway

The Panama Railway was built across the isthmus from 1850 to 1855. The infrastructure of this functioning railway was a key consideration in the plan to build the canal in Panama. The railroad workers were from the United States, Europe, China, and also included some African slaves. Many of these workers had come to Panama to seek their fortune and had arrived with little or no identification. Many died leaving no knowledge of their next of kin, their permanent address, or even their last name.

Related Topics:
Panama Railway - 1850 - 1855 - Railway - United States - Europe - China - Africa - Slave - Last name

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As disease and exhaustion took their toll on the workers, the disposal of unidentifiable bodies was a boon to those with proper connections. Medical schools and teaching hospitals needed cadavers to train budding physicians, and paid handsomely for anonymous bodies pickled in barrels shipped up from the tropics. The Panama Railroad Company itself sold the corpses abroad, and the income generated was sufficient to maintain the Company's own hospital. A journalist reported sighting the chief doctor at the Panama Railroad Company's hospital conscientiously bleaching skeletons of dead workers, in hopes of compiling a skeletal museum of all the known races working on the railroad.

Related Topics:
Disease - Exhaustion - Medical school

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The Canal Revived

The task was suggested again by German scientist Alexander von Humboldt, and in 1819 the Spanish government authorized the construction of a canal and the creation of a company to build it. In 1878 the company obtained permission from the Colombian government, which then controlled the land. The difficulties of "cutting" through such a large amount of land soon forced the company to give up.

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The French Project

In the late 19th century, it was decided that the two "most favorable" routes were those across Panama (then a part of Colombia) and across Nicaragua, with a route across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico as a third option. The Nicaragua route was seriously considered and surveyed (see Nicaragua Canal). After the success of the Suez Canal in Egypt, the French were confident that they could connect another two seas with little difficulty. The Colombian government gave the French permission to dig.

Related Topics:
19th century - Colombia - Nicaragua - Isthmus of Tehuantepec - Mexico - Nicaragua Canal - Suez Canal - Egypt - French

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Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was in charge of the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869, was initially called upon to build the new canal at Panama, and construction began on January 1, 1880, though digging did not begin until January 22, 1882 {{ref|earthinfo2}}.

Related Topics:
Ferdinand de Lesseps - Suez Canal - January 1 - 1880 - January 22 - 1882

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However, there was a vast difference between digging quantities of sand in a dry, flat area for the Suez Canal and removing enormous quantities of rock from the middle of a jungle. Floods, mudslides, and high mortality rates from malaria, yellow fever and other tropical diseases eventually forced the French to abandon the project. De Lesseps' company was eventually liquidated to repay investors. The collapse of the company was a major scandal in France, and the role of two Jewish speculators in the affair enabled Edouard Drumont, an anti-semite, to exploit the matter. 104 legislators were found to have been involed in the curruption and Jean Jaurès was commissioned by the French parliament to conduct an enquiry into the matter, completed in 1893 {{ref|panscandal}}.

Related Topics:
Suez Canal - Flood - Mudslide - Malaria - Yellow fever - Tropical disease - Scandal - Jewish - Speculators - Edouard Drumont - Anti-semite - Jean Jaurès - 1893

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Later, in 1894 Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama was created to finish the construction; however it eventually sold its assets to the U.S. for $40 million. The negotiating between the company and the U.S. government resulted in the U.S. being convinced to build the canal in Panama, and the price of the canal being lowered from 100 million dollars, to 40 million.

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Nicaragua

In 1887 a U.S. regiment went to survey canal possibilities in Nicaragua. In 1889, the Maritime Canal Company was asked to begin creating a canal in the area, and it chose Nicaragua. The company lost its funding in 1893 as a result of a stock panic, and canal work ceased in Nicaragua. In both 1897 and 1899, Congress charged a Canal Commission to look into possible construction, and Nicaragua was chosen as the location both times.

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Panama

American President Theodore Roosevelt was confident that the United States could complete the project, and recognized that U.S. control of the passage from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans would be militarily and economically important. Panama was then part of Colombia, so Roosevelt opened negotiations with the Colombians to obtain the necessary permission. In early 1903 the Hay-Herran Treaty was signed by both nations, but the Colombian Senate failed to ratify the treaty. In a controversial move, Roosevelt implied to Panamanian rebels that if they revolted, the U.S. Navy would assist their cause for independence. Panama proceeded to proclaim its independence on November 3, 1903, and the USS Nashville in local waters impeded any interference from Colombia (see gunboat diplomacy).

Related Topics:
President - Theodore Roosevelt - Colombia - 1903 - Hay-Herran Treaty - U.S. Navy - November 3 - USS ''Nashville'' - Gunboat diplomacy

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When fighting began Roosevelt ordered U.S. battleships to be stationed off Panama's coast for "training exercises". Many argue that fear of a war with the United States caused the Colombians to avoid any serious opposition to the revolution. The victorious Panamanians returned the favor to Roosevelt by allowing the United States control of the Panama Canal Zone on February 23, 1904, for US$10 million (as provided in the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, signed on November 18, 1903).

Related Topics:
Battleship - Panama Canal Zone - February 23 - 1904 - US$ - Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty - November 18

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Construction Begins

Control of the zone was exercised by the Isthmian Canal Commission during canal construction. The commission was staffed by military officers and initially chaired by Admiral John C. White. The first success of the North Americans was to eliminate the noxious yellow fever that had killed so many construction workers. Based on the work of Cuban doctor Juan Carlos Finlay, Walter Reed had determined in Cuba during the Spanish-American War that the disease was spread by mosquitos. (Some 20,000 French workers had died from it.) However, new health measures led by Dr William C. Gorgas eliminated yellow fever in 1905 and improved general sanitation and working conditions {{ref|McCullough}}.

Related Topics:
Yellow fever - Carlos Finlay - Walter Reed - Cuba - Spanish-American War - Mosquito - New health measures - William C. Gorgas - 1905

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John Findlay Wallace was the project's first chief engineer. Hampered by disease and poor organization, his work did not go well and he resigned after one year. The second chief engineer, John Stevens, set up much of the infrastructure necessary for construction of the canal, including building housing for construction workers, rebuilding the Panama Railway to accommodate heavy freight traffic, and devising an efficient system for removing spoil from the excavations by rail. He resigned in 1907. U.S. Colonel George Washington Goethals was the last chief engineer, and his management of the project was highly praised. The work was still gruelling, but great progress was made. Around this time landslides became a larger issue, especially around the Culebra Cut, where rapid oxidation of iron in the underlying strata caused loss of support. The first major slide occurred in 1907 at Cucaracha. The initial crack was first noted on October 4; then without warning approximately 382,000 cubic meters of clay moved more than 4 meters in 24 hours. The clay was too soft to be excavated and removed by the steam shovels and could only be removed by sluicing with water from a high level.

Related Topics:
John Stevens - 1907 - George Washington Goethals - Culebra Cut - Iron - Strata - October 4

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Ferdinand de Lesseps had insisted on a sea-level canal, but the French engineers never found a way of dealing with the Chagres River, which crossed the line of the canal many times. The Chagres was prone to tremendous floods in the rainy season and a sea-level canal would have had to carry its entire drainage. The lock canal plan finally selected by Stevens and built by Goethals harnessed the Chagres by means of a huge earth-fill dam at Gatún. The resulting artificial lake not only provided the water and hydroelectric power to operate the canal locks, but also a water "bridge" covering a third of the distance across the isthmus. Under Goethals' leadership, the engineering work on the canal was broken down into construction of the breakwaters, dams, and locks at either end, and the great task of excavation through the Continental Divide at Culebra, now known as the Gaillard Cut. Even with the change from a sea-level to lock canal, the final volume of excavation was almost four times

Related Topics:
Ferdinand de Lesseps - Flood - Dam - Hydroelectric power - Canal lock - Continental Divide - Cut - Excavation

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that initially estimated by de Lesseps {{ref|Barrett}}.

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U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggered the blowing up of the Gamboa Dike on October 10, 1913, thus completing the construction of the canal. Numerous West Indian laborers had worked on the Canal, and official mortality figures were 5,609 lives {{ref|LaFeber}}.

Related Topics:
Woodrow Wilson - October 10 - 1913

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France paid $300 million in an aborted attempt to build the Panama Canal; later the U.S. paid $375 million to complete it. Some 232 million cubic yards (177 million  m³) of dirt were removed, and 4.5 million cubic yards (3.4 million  m³) of concrete were poured. At the height of construction, there were 40,000 workers working on it. All workers were paid in gold and silver coins, never in paper money {{ref|haskin}}.

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The Dam

An enormous amount of excess soil was produced during the construction of the Panama Canal. Initially, the soil was hauled to a nearby valley, then dumped and allowed to build up. This caused many problems during the rainy season and was the cause of many landslides. Later it was decided to reuse the soil, and it was used for the creation of the Chagres Dam, which held back the Chagres River to create the Gatun Lake. The dam is 1.5 miles long and slightly under 0.5 mile wide at its base. The construction of the dam involved building 2 walls along its length, using excavated rock, primarily from the Culebra cut. The space between the walls was then built up with clay. When the clay dried it adopted concrete qualities. This dam contains 16.9 million cubic meters of rock and clay, which is equivalent to about one-tenth of the entire excavation of the canal.

Related Topics:
Soil - Chagres River - Gatun Lake - Clay

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Completion

The canal was opened on August 15, 1914, with the transit of the cargo ship Ancon.

Related Topics:
August 15 - 1914

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Impact of the Canal

When the canal opened on August 15, 1914, it was a technological marvel. A complex series of locks allowed even the largest ships to pass. The canal was an important strategic and economic asset to the U.S., and revolutionized world shipping patterns. The opening of the canal removed the need for ships to travel the long and dangerous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn (at the southernmost tip of South America). The canal saves a total of about 18,000 miles on a trip from New York to San Francisco by sea.

Related Topics:
August 15 - 1914 - Strategic

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The United States used the canal during World War II to help revitalize their devastated Pacific Fleet {{ref|Major}}. Some of the largest ships the United States had to send through the canal were aircraft carriers, in particular the Essex class. These were so large that, although the locks could hold them, the lamp-posts that lined the canal had to be removed.

Related Topics:
World War II - Aircraft carrier - ''Essex'' class

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The Third Locks Scheme

As the situation in Europe deteriorated in the late 1930's, the USA began to be concerned about its ability to move warships between the oceans. The largest U.S. battleships were already so large as to have problems with the canal locks; and there were concerns about the locks being put out of action by enemy bombing {{ref|armthird}} {{ref|czthird}}.

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These concerns led the U.S. Congress to pass a resolution authorising a study into improving the canal's defences against attack, and into expanding the capacity of the canal to handle large vessels. This resolution was passed on May 1, 1936, and a Special Engineering Section was created by the on July 1, 1937, to carry out the study.

Related Topics:
U.S. Congress - May 1 - 1936 - July 1 - 1937

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A report was made to Congress on February 24, 1939, recommending that work be carried out to protect the existing lock structures, and to construct a new set of locks capable of carrying larger vessels than the existing locks could accommodate. On August 11, 1939, Congress authorised work to begin.

Related Topics:
February 24 - 1939 - August 11

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The plan was to build three new locks, at Gatún, Pedro Miguel, and Miraflores, in parallel with the existing locks, and served by new approach channels. The new locks would add a single traffic lane to the canal, with each chamber being 365.8 metres (1200 feet) long, 42.7 metres (140 feet) wide, and 13.7 metres (45 feet) deep. The new locks would be 800 metres (½ mile) to the east of the existing Gatún locks, and 400 metres (¼ mile) to the west of the existing Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks.

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The first excavations for the new approach channels at Miraflores began on July 1, 1940, following the passage by Congress of the Appropriation Act on June 24, 1940. The first dry excavation at Gatún began on February 19, 1941. A considerable amount of material was excavated before the project was finally abandoned; the new approach channels can still be seen in parallel to the original channels at Gatún and Miraflores.

Related Topics:
July 1 - 1940 - June 24 - February 19 - 1941

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