For centuries European seafarers have been looking for a short, safe way to sail merchant ships to Asian ports in order to capitalize on the lucrative trade possibilities. The North and South American continents soon had their own trading possibilities, but to get to the big prize, these continents had to be circumnavigated. To sail south around Africa and then to the east took too long. To sail south around Argentina and then to the west was too dangerous. It was about 400 years later when the right solution came to pass—the Panama Canal.
Origins: In 1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a Spanish conquistador, crossed the Isthmus of Panama discovering for Europeans what became known as the Pacific Ocean. As the need for a shorter and safer navigable waterway from the Atlantic to the Pacific arose, interest in exploiting the Isthmus of Panama as a potential route began. In 1534 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, commissioned a survey of the isthmus seeking a shorter route to the western coast of South America and to Asia. Because of the prime location and the narrowness of the isthmus, a variety of plans were attempted to create a trade route from one side to the other. In 1843 Great Britain became the first country to attempt the building of a canal. But with the California Gold Rush in 1848, the demand for a more immediate transport solution highlighted the development of ocean-going ports on either side of the isthmus with a railroad that ran across it. In 1881 a French company was formed to begin development of a canal across the isthmus. Construction began, but the project was bogged down by torrential rains and mosquito born diseases that killed over 22,000 workers. In 1902 the Theodore Roosevelt Administration purchased the rights to the French project and continued the canal’s development. The Panama Canal was completed, and the first ship crossed through it on August 3, 1914.
Design: The isthmus itself was covered with numerous lakes and waterways that were replenished by a rainy season that lasted up to eight months per year bringing over 100 inches of rain annually to the area. The designers sought to leverage this rainfall as running the locks of the canal would require major amounts of water that gravitated from the middle highlands down to the ocean on either side. The fifty-mile canal would be controlled by six sets of dual locks, three on each end. When a ship going up the canal sailed into a lock, the gate would close behind it creating a chamber. Water would then be let into the chamber by huge valves from Gatun Lake, a manmade water reservoir. The ship would then be raised to the top of the chamber, a height of between thirty and eighty-five feet depending on the lock. The lock would open on the other side of the chamber, and the ship would sail across Gatun Lake to the locks on the other side and be lowered in a similar manner. To move the ships in and out of the lock chambers a system of mules with ropes to tow the ships was initiated. A sequence of dams would be built to hold and control the water in Lake Gatun.
Construction: The construction phase of the project was highlighted by the appointment of U.S. Army Colonel William C. Gorgas as chief sanitation officer. Gorgas directed major investments into sanitation systems including water and sewer systems, along with fumigation of buildings and insect breeding areas. Mosquito netting and window screens were installed, and pools of stagnant water were eliminated. In spite of opposition by government bureaucrats, the effort paid off, and deaths from mosquito born diseases declined dramatically within two years. To complete the work, the U.S. Isthmian Canal Commission, the authority responsible for the project, spent huge amounts of money to upgrade the excavating equipment left over from the French effort. Railroad mounted steam shovels, steam-powered cranes, giant hydraulic rock crushers, concrete mixers, dredges and pneumatic power tools—all of the latest technology—were employed. The old railroad had to be upgraded and moved to the crest of Gatun Lake as the old route would be flooded by the lake. The construction phase picked up where the French project left off and ran from 1904 to the canal’s completion in 1914. During that time, the project was served by three different chief engineers, finally brought to completion two years early by the third chief engineer, General George Washington Goethals of the Army Corps of Engineers.
Continuous Improvements: From the beginning, the size of the locks did not suit the U.S. Navy who wanted them all to be large enough to accommodate their biggest warships. A compromise was reached, but the issue arose again during World War II when it was discovered that the navy’s aircraft carriers could not easily make it through the lock system. Some improvements were made, but the war ended before the issue was completely resolved. Over time cargo ships got bigger, and in more modern times they became much bigger and required deeper and wider channels with wider locks to fit them in. A project begun in 2007 was completed June 26, 2016, to resolve this size issue by building a third group of locks parallel to the existing locks that was large enough for the new ships. To accommodate the third group of locks, the height of Gatun Lake needed to be raised to provide storage for the increased amount of water that would flow through each time one of the massive new cargo ships transited the newer locks. Maintaining the water supply in Gatun Lake was a concern as far back as the 1930’s, when the Madden Dam was built upstream from Gatun Lake on the Chagres River to increase the water supply and provide queuing as needed. As time went on and the ships got bigger, the mules that towed the ships through were replaced with electric “mules” similar to railroad switch engines, and ropes were replaced by cables.
Changeover in Control: When Theodore Roosevelt gained control of the canal project, the Isthmus of Panama was still a part of Colombia. Negotiations for the canal zone concluded with the January, 1903, Hay-Herran Treaty signed by officials of both countries, but not ratified by the Colombian Senate. The French manager of their portion of the project told Roosevelt in confidence that rebel groups in Panama were growing in strength and could challenge the Colombian government for the independence of Panama. Roosevelt seized upon the idea and diplomatically as well as militarily out maneuvered the Colombian government to support Panamanian secession. Eventually a peace treaty was signed, and Panama did achieve its independence. A separate canal zone was declared and maintained by the U.S. as per treaty. When World War II ended, the control of the canal and canal zone again became a major political topic. After the Suez Canal crisis of 1956 when control of the Suez Canal was turned over to Egypt, France and Great Britain sought to retake control of the canal. The U.S. used political and financial pressure to keep the canal in Egyptian control, but the fallout of the crisis led to riots in Panama when about twenty Panamanians and five U.S. soldiers were killed over control of the Panama Canal. In 1974 new treaty negotiations for the handover of the canal to Panamanian authorities began and culminated in September, 1977, with a new treaty to turn control over to Panama as long as they agreed to guarantee the permanent neutrality of the canal. A twenty-two year overlap ensued and the canal became Panama’s on December 31, 1999.
Conclusions: The Panama Canal is considered to be one of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World. The contribution it has made to world trade is arguably immeasurable. I had the pleasure of transiting the Panama Canal some forty years ago aboard the Royal Princess. It was a marvelous experience that I can still appreciate today.
Sources: History.com, This Day in History, December 31, 1999, Panama Canal Turned Over to Panama.
Wikipedia, Panama Canal.