If you wish to see a magnificent manmade feat, then take a look at one of the greatest achievements of the twentieth century, the Panama Canal. This canal connects the great Pacific and Atlantic oceans and was designated as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and as the Monument on Millennium by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Panama Canal is an engineering marvel that completely changed cargo transport, not only for people from American, but also for the whole world. So it is only fair to learn at least a little about this manmade wonder.
Below, we explore the Panama Canal in more detail to try to understand what it is that makes this canal so important.
An Introduction To The Panama Canal
As mentioned above, the Panama Canal connects the great Pacific Ocean with the immense Atlantic Ocean. It runs for 48 miles and is of huge significance to the international maritime trade. It connects some 160 countries and about 1700 ports across the planet and is considered an existing example of a manmade wonder.
Another interesting fact about this canal is that, during its construction when the U.S. acquired the responsibility to complete the project, it was decided that the canal would be built with locks. Locks can be understood as water-filled chambers that are used to move ships from one level to the next. The fascinating Panama Canal fashions three such locks in total, which are about 110 feet wide and about 1050 feet long.
An interesting fact is that Leonardo da Vinci first used this type of canal design in Italy some centuries earlier.
What Is The Importance Of The Panama Canal?
The rights to begin the construction of this canal were first granted in the year 1878 and then it took some 35 years to complete its construction. The project was finally completed in the year 1914, and even today, 100 years after its completion, the canal stands in its full glory before the world.
But what makes this canal so important is the purpose that it serves. The Panama Canal connects two great oceans and some 160 countries. But before 1914, when this approximately 82 km long canal was completed, a ship that desired to sail from New York to California had to make a journey all the way down to the tip of South America which added an extra 13,000 km to the travel path. It used to take about 16 to 20 hours to make this journey, while today via the Panama Canal, you can complete this expedition in about half the time. Since 1914, the annual traffic at the canal has noticed a surge from about 1one thousand to some fourteen thousand ships every year. In 2008, the stats showed that roughly about 815,000 ships passed through the Panama Canal.
History Of The Panama Canal
All great constructions usually do have great stories about them. And so does the Panama Canal.
The idea of the construction of the Panama Canal first crossed the mind of a Spanish explorer, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who discovered that the great Pacific Ocean was separated by the immense Atlantic Ocean only by a slim and narrow bridge known as the Isthmus of Panama. After that, surveys were made, but it was eventually reported that the construction of a ship canal to provide a waterway link between the two oceans was unattainable.
After that, in the years to come, many nations attempted to do something about the canal, but nothing concrete was done. Finally, in the year 1881, the first serious attempt was led by Ferdinand De Lesseps to build this canal. But because of poor planning and even worse execution, and of course, tropical diseases, they did not get too far. Frustrated by this, the French decided to employee Gustave Eiffel, of tower fame to assist with this project. However, by 1889, the De Lesseps Company went bankrupt. The second firm that took over the assets of the former company tried to complete the canal project, but also soon gave up.
After that, the U.S. came into the picture. After many efforts, a treaty was signed between the U.S. and Panama under which the 500 square miles of area in which the canal was to be built was handed over to American Protectorate for generations to come. After that, it took America an investment of some $400 million and a time span of ten years to complete the project.
However, in 1999, another treaty was signed between the U.S. and Panama that transferred the control of the Panama Canal to the government of Panama.
Interesting Facts About Panama Canal
Various details related to the construction of this project continue to amaze people worldwide.
The People Responsible For Construction Of The Panama Canal Were Convicted For Failed Attempts To Construct The Canal
The men led by Ferdinand De Lesseps, along with the man behind the famous tower in Paris that bears his name Gustave Eiffel, were given the responsibility to construct the canal. But by the time the French had sunk more than $260 million in construction of the canal, the company declared bankruptcy. All hell broke loose and both Eiffel and De Lesseps were indicted on fraud and mismanagement of funds. They were found guilty and punished. However, their sentences were later overturned.
Many Workers Died During The Canal’s Construction
While building the canal, the workers had to face many challenges, from hot and humid terrain to breakout of tropical diseases. During the time the French were overseeing the construction of the Panama Canal, about twenty thousand workers died. And under the guidance of U.S. engineers, this death toll reached 25,600, adding 5,600 more deaths. Most of these deaths were a result of yellow fever and malaria.
The Canal Was Expanded To Allow Passage Of The Grand Ships Of Present Times
In 2007, the work began on the expansion project aimed to expand the canal so that it could handle larger ships. The goal was to expand the canal so that it would become capable of handling cargo vessels that carry 14,000, 20-foot containers, basically three times the size that it used to accommodate. The project was aimed to create a new larger set of locks and to widen and deepen the navigation channels.
The U.S. Was Initially Interested In Constructing A Canal In Nicaragua
Initially, while the French were trying to construct the Panama Canal, the Americans had their sight set on constructing a canal in Nicaragua as they believed it was a more feasible project. But they were convinced later that the Nicaragua region had had many dangerous volcanoes and so it would not be a wise move on the part of Americans to pursue this project. And so they turned towards the Panama Canal. However, the Nicaragua canal plan is still in play with the Chinese perusing it.
Conclusion
So, you can probably see now how grand and magnificent the Panama Canal project is. To this day the canal stands proudly and grants humongous cargo ships an easy and short passage between the two oceans, saving them the trouble of covering unnecessary miles.
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