The Building of the Panama Canal

Panama is a land of diverse cultures and the historical importance of Panama goes back to the days of yore when the early explorers came here. There is a narrow bridge between North and South America which was of great importance for commercial reasons and it was called Panama Canal. The early explorers easily recognized the potential of the waterways and considered canal construction as a vital step for directing the potential waterways into a profit yielding pathway.

Brief Information

At first the French tried out their hands in the canal building process. There were numerous technical problems and the waterways could not be canalized so easily. The French tried their hands in building a canal at the sea level. This was a huge failure and it was never completed. Later on a large number of excavations were carried out. This was mainly due to the effort of the United States government. The Panama Canal was finally completed in the year 1914.

The building of the Panama Canal is historic because it marked the separation of Panama from Columbia in 1903. The canal serves as an important commercial link. The history of Panama dates back to the 16th century. The rich wealth of Peru, Ecuador and Asia attracted people from way off countries. They realized that if a canal was constructed then it would be easier for people to communicate. Business transactions will also become easier.

It was suggested by King Charles V in the year 1524 that cutting out a piece of land from somewhere in Panama would enable quicker and easier access to the mainland. In cutting out a piece of land they can also ensure an easy access to the vast wealth without the intervention of the pirates of the sea. After that there was a survey of the isthmus. The working plan for creating the canal was first drawn in 1529. But the wars in Europe and the thirst for kingdoms permanently put the project on hold.

In the year 1534, a Spanish official suggested a route which is similar to the present day route of the canal. Several plans were made subsequently. The plans were revised several times and subsequently it was dropped. Since this continued for quite a long time, the plan of building the canal was ultimately dropped. Spain thus lost its interest in the canal construction.

During the 19th century, however, the German scientist Alexander Von Humboldt wrote books which again revived the interest of the Spanish people over the issue of canal building. In the year 1819, the Spanish government formally sanctioned the creation of the Panama Canal. The Spanish government also formed a company which would handle the responsibility in building the canal.

There was yet another thing that instigated the Americans to build the canal. The discovery of gold in California is perhaps the most provoking step that instigated the would-be-miners. Thus the surveys started. A number of them were made. The surveys which were made from 1850 to 1875 indicated that only two practicable canal routes were there. The first feasible idea was to construct a canal across Panama. The second feasible one was to build a canal across Nicaragua.

Thus in the year 1876, a company was organized under which the canal would be constructed. It was an international company which even obtained prior permission from the government of Columbia (previously Panama was a part of Columbia). However, the mission of this international organization failed.

Later on French Company took up the responsibility of making the canal, which is actually the builder of the Suez Canal. In the year 1879, he came up with the idea of constructing a sea level canal through Panama. He had the honor of being the constructor of the Suez Canal and was quite confident of the prospect of constructing the most important canal of the world.

The canal would simply reduce the time and hassle of the trips between North and South America. The canal would actually save 18,000 miles journey from New York to San Francisco. De Lesseps was not an engineer by profession. In spite of that he took upon the charge of building the canal. At the very beginning, he constructed an organization that would look after the construction process. De Lesseps thought that since the sea level canal worked for Suez Canal it would also work for Panama Canal.

In the year 1899 a new commission was appointed to discover a proper route (the length of the canal and the breadth as well as its height and the various relevant requirements). Actually the assets of the Lesseps Company were offered to the United States at a price of $40 million. Later on the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed between the United States and the new state of Panama.

The actual length of the Panama Canal is 51 miles. The canal was constructed in two consecutive stages. The first part of the canal was constructed in 1881 while the second part was constructed in 1888. The construction was completed between 1904 and 1914. In the year 1882, excavation of the Culebra Cut began. There was lack of organization and no available tracks to remove the spoils which were produced by the excavators. As the work continued, there was a fear of landslide at the construction site.

In 1883 it became known that while the tidal range in the Pacific is 20 feet, in the Atlantic the tidal range is 1 foot. Due to unequal tidal ranges, there was a threat to navigation.  It was planned that a tidal lock should be build at Panama to maintain the level up to Colon. This plan had the potential to save 10 million cubic meters of excavation.

In the year 1885, there were major financial difficulties faced by the French canal builders. It seemed that while they had been successful in constructing the Suez Canal, it would not be the same in case of Panama Canal. These difficulties of the French are supposed to have increased the interest of the American government. In a report which was made by the American Government in the year 1886 it was clearly written that the workers who were given the responsibility of handling the Panama Canal construction project would not have any proper residence and that their houses would still be under construction. Moreover, the French had less number of dredgers and were stopped by the presence of huge boulders which stood in their way. The report also said that the people who were engaged in the construction of the Panama Canal wanted to return home because of the inadequate medical aid and absolutely no hope of return after their arrival into the canal construction site.

Considering the report it was felt by the engineers that the only solution was to construct a high level canal. It would save excavations and would also make the work much easier. Excavation may lead to landslide. If a canal of high level was constructed then the problem of landslide may be avoided. But there was a basic problem. The work was already started; rejection of this canal construction project would lead to the huge financial ruin and the crisis may persist for a long period of time. Moreover, if the canal project fails, the French would be at the losing edge.

After considering all these things, conclusion was drawn that the previous plan should be modified while building the canal. Moreover a system called Lock System should be employed. Thus the French attempt to create the Panama Canal proved to be a failure in the year 1899.

During that time French had already excavated a total of 59.75 million cubic meters. The peak was thus lowered by 102 meters. The value of the French work was worth $ 25 million. When the French finally left Panama, a huge amount of machinery and housing were left behind them. The main reason of the French failure in Panama Canal construction was the disease carrying mosquitoes and the inadequacy of machinery.

Again the construction of the canal was started and this time it was initiated by the Americans. The first condition that the Americans considered was the health since ill health would pose a threat to the canal construction process. The first American steam shovel began its work on the Culebra Cut in the canal creating site on 11th November 1904. By the end of December 1905 there were more than 2,600 men at work in the Culebra Cut.

In June 1906 the type of canal that would be constructed was decided. It was decided that a lock canal should be constructed. This would make River Chagres to form a Lake. The Americans also considered the excavated material and they decided that the excavated material must be removed from the site in order to avoid a land slide. Therefore, they engaged more than 4,000 wagons for this purpose.

Each wagon had the capacity to carry 15 cubic meters of material. They were dragged by 160 locomotives. The cross section of the Panama Canal was constantly changing because of the problem related to landslide. International Board of Consulting decided that the rocks would be safe at a height of 1 to 1.5 meters and that they had the strength to stand at a height of 73.5 meters. This judgment in the construction of the canal proved to be wrong since the underlying strata of the rock contained clay and iron pyrites which did not give strength to the rock above. Moreover, iron pyrites is oxidized when exposed to moisture and air. So when the upper layer of the rocks was removed, water seeped into the lower levels and caused oxidation of iron pyrites. This caused considerable deterioration of the canal construction project and proved the calculations wrong.

There was a major slide in Cucaracha in the year 1907. However an initial crack was noted in the year 1907, 4th October. This slide has a far reaching impact in the minds of the people of Panama. They thought that it would be impossible to construct the Panama Canal. At the base of the cut, there was a sudden change. While the middle portion was raised the sides sunk down. The pressure was thus reduced and the slide proved to be troublesome for the project.

Considering all these points, three sets of locks were constructed in the canal. They were named Gatun, Pedro Miguel and the Miraflores locks. The locks were constructed with concrete from the excavated materials which were collected at Culebra. Moreover, an excess of 1.53 million cc of rocks were used for the constructed of the locks of the canal. In the year 1908, the United States Navy requested to increase the width of the lock. This would enable the US naval ships to enter into the canal. A compromise was thus to be made and it was ultimately decided that the lock would be 33 meters. Thus each lock is 300 meters long and the walls are 15 meters thick at the base and 3 meters at the top.

Colonel Geothals of American is the actual designer of the Panama Canal. The smallest sets of rocks in the Panama Canal are along the Pedro Miguel. The most important aspect that the engineers noticed about the Panama Canal is the excess amount of wastage that was produced in the construction site. Moreover, the engineers and scientists also pointed towards the environmental hazards due to the construction of the Panama Canal.

The French policy of hauling the excavated material and dumping it to the nearby valley produced a lot of hazards. It was the principal cause of landslide and excess pollution during the daily seasons. When the Americans started working on the Panama Canal project they decided to reuse the soil. This would be beneficial in two ways. On one hand it would decrease the risk of land slide and on other hand it can be directly used in the project without making it pollute the environment anymore.

Thus the Gatun dam was constructed with the waste soil of the French. The function of this dam is to hold back the water from the Chagres River. It also created the Gatun Lake. With the passage of time, the soil would settle and thus reinforce the strength of the dam and the canal can be safely used.

In the previous days, the ships were able to carry less cargo so the Panama Canal was built in such way that it could make way for ships carrying 65,000 tons of cargo. But the ships which are now constructed have a far better cargo carrying capacity and they can even carry 300,000 tons of cargo. These ships cannot find their way through he Panama Canal. Thus the constructed of a new canal which would join the Pacific and the Atlantic was felt to be necessary.

Three alternative routes (instead of the original canal route) were proposed. These routes are through Columbia, Mexico and Nicaragua. While the Nicaraguan route will require a lock system, the Columbian and the Mexican routes can be constructed at the sea level. The present canal will employ 14,000 people and of them 4,000 may be Panamanians. It was also proposed that when the new canal was constructed the old one would be converted into a hydroelectric power plant. Since Panama does not have any deposit of natural gas, fuel and petroleum and skilled resources, there is actually no need to cheap power.

The engineers felt that the present canal can be converted into a sea level passage. This can be done by dredging more than 765 million cubic meters of earth and rock. This can be done without actually interfering with the present Panama Canal. The engineers were of the opinion that the water retaining structures can be demolished by blasting when the excavation is over. The lowering of the canal can be done in a period of 7 days. During these seven days the traffic would be disrupted.

In the 1960’s it was decided that nuclear explosives would be used to widen the Panama Canal. This was much against the wish of the anti nuclear parties. But this method is a cheap one and would require only one third of the price required in the conventional  canal construction process.

The Panama Canal went under the administration of Panama in the year 1999. Panama Canal is a historic event in the human history which was finally accomplished after a lot of failures.