The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal was one of the greatest triumphs and tragedies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The tragedy was that the French were just simply too far ahead of technology, at that time, to complete or even get farther than the very beginning of the Panama Canal. The Americans took over the project after President Theodore Roosevelt's pushing of the Panamanian Revolution. After the Revolution the Americans took control of the canal and continued to build the canal to what it is today. The Panama Canal is one of the largest canals in the world. It consists of three dams, the Gatun, Pedro Miguel, and Mira Flores. Despite the limit in ship size the canal is still one of the highest traveled waterways in the world.

The Panama Canal was constructed in two stages. The first between 1881 and 1888, was carried out by the French company headed by De Lessop. Second, was the work by the Americans who eventually completed the canals construction between 1904 and 1914. (Cameron 79)The contract for the canals construction was signed on March 12, 1881, and it was agreed the work would be carried out for 512 million French francs. Midway through the building of the canal, in 1885, the French company started to run into financial difficulties and even applied to the French government to issue lottery bonds. Rumors of these difficulties caused increased interest within the American government. The abandonment of the scheme at this stage would cause financial ruin for all the investors and a severe blow to the French. It was suggested that the original plan be modified and the lock system should be employed. Eventually, in 1899, France's attempt at constructing the Panama Canal was seen to be a failure. However, they had excavated a total of 59.75 million cubic meters, which included 14.255 million cubic meters from the Culebra Cut. (Barret 63) This lowered the peak by 102 meters. The value of work completed by the French was about $25 million. When the French departed, they left behind a considerable amount of machinery, housing and a hospital. The reasons behind the French failing to complete the project were due to disease carrying mosquitoes and the inadequacy of their machinery.

The construction of the canal was recommenced by the Americans in 1904. The first step on the agenda was to improve the standard of living and ensure ill health would be a thing of the past. The first American steam shovel started work on the canal on November 11, 1904. By December, 1905, there were 2,600 men at work on the canal.

Many engineering aspects of the Panama Canal point out the concern for the protection of the environment and natural resources.(Lafeber,110) As the excavations were being carried out, a large amount of excess soil was produced. The French initially hauled the soil to a valley where the soil was dumped and allowed to build up. This itself caused many problems during the rainy season and was the cause behind many of the landslides.

The Panama Canal consists of three dams, including the Gatun Dam, Pedro Miguel, and the Mira Flores. The Gatun Dam is the largest of the three dams. The dam itself is 1.5 miles in length and is nearly 0.5 miles wide, at its' base. This dam contains 16.9 million cubic meters of rock and clay. The dams at Pedro Miguel, and Mira Flores are