The United States took over the project in 1904, and opened the canal in 1914. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. It is one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.Ĭolombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan. An average of 200,000,000 L (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water are used in a single passing of a ship. Canal locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial freshwater lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming up the Chagres River, and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, and then lower the ships at the other end. The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 mi) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, cutting across the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade. Location of Panama between the Pacific Ocean (bottom) and the Caribbean Sea (top), with the canal at top center Pacific Ocean from Atlantic Ocean and vice versa A schematic of the Panama Canal, illustrating the sequence of locks and passagesģ locks up, 3 down per transit all three lanesįerdinand de Lesseps, John Findley Wallace (1904–1905), John Frank Stevens (1905–1907), George Washington Goethals (1907–1914)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |