FREE ESSAY ON PANAMA CANNAL

PANAMA CANNAL

The Panama Canal;
A Shorter Trade Route.
Jo Bob
Running head :The Panama Canal; A Shorter Trade Route
Abstract
For centurys man has used water as way to get from one place to another very quickly. The
Panama Canal is no exception. From around the start of the 16th century people have been
trying to find a way to cut a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Many misfortunes and
deaths have been sacrificed to obtain this goal. Finally in 1914 the American had
completed one of the greatest feats of all time the Panama Canal, cutting a many months
journey to nine hours.
The Panama Canal;
The Shorter Trade Route.
Europeans had wanted of Central American canal as early as the 16thy century; President
Ulysses S. Grant sent seven expeditions to study the feasibility of digging the cannel.
As travel and trade in the Western Hemisphere increased the need for a canal grew
increasingly more important. To sail from the Atlantic to the pacific, ships navigated
around the Cape Horn. This was a long and very dangerous trip especially around the tip
of South America. A New York to San Francisco journey measured more than 13000 miles and
took months to complete. The canals construction was badly needed.
History Of Canals
A canal is an artificial waterway built for navigation, crop irrigation, water supply and
drainage. Canals are usually connected with natural bodies of water or other canal.
Canals have been used for thousands of years. They started out in early civilization in
the middle east as a way to bring water to the city and to water their crops. In the 3rd
century the Chinese began building canals, the longest of these early canals was more
than 1000 miles long. Making it the longest artificial waterway in the world.
(Britannica(no date))
Romans built huge canals mainly for military transport. By the twelfth century 85% of all
Medieval European travel was by waterway.( Britannica(no date)) The greatest invention in
canal construction came along 1373. The Dutch developed the pound lock system. The Lock
system uses a series of chambers that can be flooded or drained so the ship can change
elevation. This allowed canals to be built where elevation made it impossible. This
brings us to the modern era of canal building and one of the greatest engineering feats
of all time the Panama Canal. 
The French
A French Developer Ferdinand de Lesseps believed that the Panama Canal could make lots of
money for investors. The French cut a broad path through the jungle and on January 20,
1882 they commenced digging. They brought with them tons of modern equipment. They had
steam shovels and locomotive and dredges. Their work crews were mostly black and Indian
labors. 
In the first months, the digging proceeded slowly but steadily. Then the rain began and
the French faced many dangers. The crew faced miles upon mile of impassable jungle, and
very heavy rain. In the jungle they also faced insects, snakes, swamps, small pox,
malaria, yellow fever, and flooding of the charges river. 
The Charges sakes across the canal route a total of fourteen times. The French dammed the
river so they could drudge the canal but every time it would rain the river would swell
and break the dams. It would sweep away workers, destroy equipment, and fill in the canal
with sediment. If that wasn't enough the stagnate water that was formed, breaded large
amount of deadly insects. Three out of four men hospitalized at the very modern Ancon
hospital died. Finally in 1888 the project was abandoned and lots of French investors
lost money. About $287,000,000 had been spent eleven miles of the canal had been dug and
20,000 men lost their lives.(Britannica(no date)) The canal remained unfinished but the
dream had not yet died. Theodore Roosevelt would soon take up the cause.
The Americans
The strategic necessity and the desire of business men to have access to the Pacific
market combined in the late 1890s to convince the president and Congress that a canal
linking the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean was vital to Americans. The British government
gave up its right to joint construction with The United States in 1901. The French
company, which had tried unsuccessfully to dig the canal across the Isthmus of Panama,
was eager to sell their rights. In 1902 Roosevelt struck a deal with the French to buy
the rights and equipment for the canal for $40 million dollars.(panama canal (1999)) The
only stumble block to construction was the Colombia.
To counteract the Colombians President Roosevelt secretly supported a Panamanian
revolution in 1903. The battle of Panama lasted only a few hours. Colombian soldiers in
Colon were bribed $50 each to lay down their weapons. The U.S.S Nashville was sent down
to lend support. A treaty was quickly signed between the United States and the new
republic of Panama, Giving the U.S. complete right to the canal zone and control of the
inlets an outlets.
Roosevelt ordered army engineers to start digging thousand of workers sweated in the
extremely hot Panama sun. They tore down jungles and cut down mountains. Insects Thrived
in muddy, stagnant pools. "Mosquitoes get so thick you get a mouthful with every
breath,"(TR's Legacy ) A worker complained. These mosquitoes also carried yellow fever,
and many fell victim to the disease. They also had to face landslides, dynamite
accidents, and accident with the giant steam shovels.
In 1904 the first year for the American in panama suffered the same fate as the French.
John Findlay Wallace was terrible unorganized. The food was awful, the living conditions
were horrible, and disease struck. Three out of four workers packed it up and went home
and so did Wallace.
John Stevens took over the project. His previous project was the Great Northern Railroad
across the Pacific Northwest. Stevens believed the only way the project could be
completed is that he needed a well housed, fed, and disease free work force. Stevens
didn't begin digging he first began cleaning.
Stevens and his crew began draining swamps, sweeping drainage ditches, paved roads and
installed plumbing. They sprayed pesticides by the ton. They built entire towns, complete
with housing, schools, churches and meeting halls.
When the cleaning was finished, Stevens began work on digging the trenches. Gigantic
steam shovels scooped tons of dirt. Railroad cars ran continuously on double tracks. The
used the dirt removed to form the charges Dam. By December of 1905, yellow fever had been
officially eradicated in the canal region.
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Goethals took over for Stevens who resigned. Goethals was know
for being demanding and rigidly organized. The hardest part of the canal process was the
Culebra Cut, where 100,000,000 cubic yard of dirt and rock had to be moved.(Britannica
(no date) The labors were mostly English speaking west Indian blacks who made 10 cents an
hour. They moved more then 200 trainloads a day. When mudslides filled the Cut
repeatedly, they had to dig it out again. There was accidents of all kinds lost
equipment, and deaths. Industries were also having to work overtime. More then 50 mills,
and machine shops turned out supplies just for the canal construction
It took them nine years to complete the canal. The Canal opened officially on August 15,
1914. It took a back seat in the press because during this time World War I was going on.
This was a massive engineering feet they built a railroad, three sets of concrete locks
and a huge artificial lake. This had been one of the greatest engineering feet of our
time.
Navigating the Canal
To pass from the Atlantic to the pacific ships enter the channel in Limon bay, which
extends for a distance of about seven miles to the Gatun Locks. At Gatun a series of
three locks lift ships 85 feet to Gatun lake. The lake is formed by Gatun Dam and fed by
the Charges River. You travel for 23 miles till you reach Gamboa. This is where the cut
through the continental divide begins. The channel has a depth of about 45 feet and
extends for eight miles. You then reach the Pedro Miguel locks. The locks lower ships 31
feet to Lake Miraflores. Lake Miraflores has a height of 54 feet above see level. When
you reach the locks at Miraflores you are lowered to sea level. You then still have to
travel seven more miles till you reach the Pacific Ocean. The whole journey is 51.5 miles
has 23 direction changes and takes approximately 9 hours to complete.
The Canal Locks
The canal locks are engineering marvel themselves. The locks operate by gravity flow of
water from Gatun, Madden and Miraflores lakes, which are fed by the Charges and other
rivers. The locks are uniform in length, width and depth. They are built in tandem to
permit traffic in both directions. Each lock has two doors that are 65 feet wide and
seven feet thick set on large hinges. They are moved into position by motors set in the
lock walls. The lock chambers are 1000 feet long, 110 feet wide and 41 feet deep. Only
small craft are allowed to pass through the locks under their own power. Electric towing
locomotives take through the larger ships.
Problems with the canal
When the canal was first designed the problem of landslides had been ignored. Slides
increased more frequently as excavation increased in the Culebra Cut area. The problem
was not with soil but with the underlying layer of Iron pyrite. When it comes in contact
with air it starts to rapidly oxidize and rapidly decay causing the canal walls to
collapse. Since the building of the panama cannel it estimated that 15.3 million cubic
meters of soil has been removed, which is equal to 25% of the earth removed while
building the canal.(The panama Canal(1999))
The canal must be constantly maintained, the tropical climate wreaks havoc on the
electronic controls. They have to constantly keep dredging the bottom because of heavy
rainfalls. Another problem is the deforestation along the sides of the canal by migrant
farmers. The banks where full of trees in the 1950's and almost completely deforested by
1970's
The Canals Future
The Canal treaty of 1977 terminated all prior treaties between the United states and
Panama concerning the canal. The treaty gave the Canal zone it sovereignty, but would
allow the U.S. to continue the operation of the canal until the year 2000. The Panama
government has had some initial problems but are said to be working them out.
The ships for witch the canal was built for are no longer here. Modern ships have
increased dramatically in size. And increased in the amount of tonnage. The canal can
only accommodate ships carrying 65,000 tons of cargo modern ships carry over 300,000 tons
of cargo.(The Panama Canal) With the search for a new route for a canal the Panamanians
may lose their major source of income. The possibility of modifying the canal and making
it a sea level canal is also being studied.
Conclusion
The Panama Canal building was a great triumph of American engineering. We can thank the
French because without their prior experience in the region construction would have taken
a lot longer. We take for granted the necessity of the canal for our trade. The crowning
achievement to the engineers is how self sufficient the canal is. The dams produce the
power for the railroad and leafs of the locks. The locks are filled by gravity and the
abundance of rain replenishes the 52 million gallons of water used in each crossing.(The
Panama Canal(199)) Though we can't ignore how many people died, and worked hard to
complete the project. We can only thank them for increasing or economic prosperity that
they gave us by shortening the trade route.
References
Britanica.com. (no date) Panama Canal[online]. Available:
www.britanica.com/bcom/eb/article/5 4/4/00.
Britanica.com. (no date) Canals[online]. Available:
www.britanica.com/bcom/eb/article/5 4/4/00.
Unknown. (1999) The panama Canal[Online]. Available:
www.eclipse.co.uk/ 4/4/00.
Unknown.(1998) U.S. Intervention in Latin America [Online].
Available: www.smplanet.com/imperialism/teddy.html 4/4/00.
Unknown. (no date) TR's Legacy - The Panama Canal [Online]
Available: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tr/panama.html 4/4/00.