Facts about Panama Canal

-The Panama Canal connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It is a 77 kms canal which is
important for international maritime trade.
-Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal proposed a sea level canal through
Panama. With the success he had with the construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt just ten years
earlier, de Lesseps was confident he would complete the water circle around the world.
-The construction of the canal began in 1881 by France, but there were engineering problems and
too many people were dying due to diseases.
-The construction of the canal stopped until the United States took it over in 1904.
-The United States began to work on the Canal in 1904 and was completed in 1914, just as World
War I broke out in Europe.
-It took the United States 10 years to complete the canal.
-The canal allowed ships to travel between the two oceans more safely and in half the time.
-About 30,000,000 lbs. of dynamite were used to help clear the way for the Canal.
-The approximate cost to build the Canal was $ $375 million and it took ten years.
-Dr. William C. Gorgas is best known for his work in the Panama Canal in decreasing the

transmission of yellow fever and malaria by controlling the mosquitoes that carry them.
-Malaria and yellow fever were the two deadly diseases workers had to fight against.
-They also had to cut through jungles, swamps, and all the creatures found within, including rats
which carry the bubonic plague.
-Approximately 5,600 people died during the construction of the Canal by the United States.
-The canal is 48 miles (77.1km) long. If a ship had to travel down and around the southern tip of
South America they would have to travel 20,000km.
-The locks are 110 feet wide and 1050 feet long. wider or longer Ships than the locks cannot use
the Panama Canal.
-It takes between 8 and 10 hours to pass through the Panama Canal which is less than half of
what it would take if they had to travel down and around the southern tip of South America.
If a ship arrives without a reservation it can take several days to cross the Canal.
-A landslide closed the canal in 1915 for several months.
-John Stevens was chief engineer on the Panama Canal between 1905 and 1907.
-George

Goethals was appointed by President Roosevelt Chairman and Chief Engineer of the
Isthmian Canal Commission (I.C.C.) on March 4, 1907. He served in that position until completion
of Canal construction in 1914,

-In 1999, the Panamanian government took control of the Canal. The Panama Canal is one of the
Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
-The Panama Canal celebrated its first centennial on August 15 th, 2014.
-The expansion of the Canal is programmed for 2016.