The Panama Canal

• Greatest Shortcut on Earth!

 Why Build a Canal?
• A trip from
San
Francisco to
New York is
7,872 miles
shorter
using the
canal
instead of
going around
South
America.
 What the Heck’s an Isthmus?

Isn’t the Atlantic in the East and

Pacific in the West??
 1880s
• In 1881, the French were
given permission to build a
canal across Panama.

• What challenges do
you think they faced
building a canal in this
type of area?
• By noon the temperature is around 100
degrees.
 • The average
yearly rainfall is
about 105
inches!
• (avg. rainfall for
Middletown, De is
around 42 inches)

• Flooding makes
the ground like
pudding, and
you can sink up
to your knees in
mud.
• It’s so humid that after it rains steam rises
from the ground
• Your clothes are nearly always soaking
wet.
• The Jungle grows at an amazing rate!
• The terrain is NOT level!
 • Tropical
diseases, such
as yellow fever
and malaria are
spread easily by
mosquitoes.
 • After eight years
and over 20,000
French
construction
worker deaths, the
French abandon
the project.
• The company
building the canal
goes bankrupt.
 • In 1903, Panama was a province of
Columbia (kind of like Delaware is part
of the United States)
• The United
States offers
to buy rights
to build the
canal from
Columbia for
$10 million
dollars and
$250,000 per
year.
Columbia refuses! – holding out
for more money…
• Roosevelt is Furious! He refuses
to deal with the Columbians any longer…

• On November 3, 1903 Panamanians, led by

officials of the Panama Railroad and others
hoping to gain from the construction of a
canal, launched a revolution…
• Teddy Roosevelt sends warships to protect
Panama and prevent Columbia from
retaking it’s own territory.
• The rebels are quickly victorious and on
November 6, 1903 President Theodore
Roosevelt officially recognizes the new
nation of Panama who in turn signs the
treaty previously refused by Columbia.
• The United States begins work on the canal in
1904.

• It is a project of the U.S. government so unlike

the French, they did not run out of money.

• The efforts of William Gorgas defeat the worst

obstacle - Disease
• Another major decision had to be
made – should the canal be sea level
– like the French had tried to build or
should they follow the natural rise of
the land?
 What are locks?
A lock is a part of a canal with gates
at each end where boats are raised
or lowered to different water levels.
•Click Her
e to See
How a Lo
ck Works

• (click on
“Operation”
when you get
to the website)
Building the Lock Chambers
 • Construction progresses using steam
shovels and human muscle

• By 1914, the canal is completed – ahead

of schedule and under budget!
• More than 922,000
vessels have used the
waterway since its
opening on August 15,
1914.
• 1977 The
United
States
signed a
treaty
with
Panama
that
agreed to
give
Panama
control of
the canal
in 1999
A vessel passing through the Panama Canal pays a toll
proportionate to its size. The average toll is about
$45,000
• The lowest toll ever paid is 36 cents,
paid by Richard Halliburton for
swimming the Canal in 1928.

On May 30th, 2006, the Maersk Dellys

established a new toll record by paying
$249,165.00!!
• On average, a vessel will take
between 8 to 10 hours to transit.
• Although longer
than 3 Statues
of Liberty laid
end to end, the
current locks
are too small.
• Many ships,
known as
“Pana-Max”,
barely fit
through…
• Due to be completed
between 2014 and
2015, Work is under
way to modernize the
canal and enable it to
handle much larger
ships.

• At a cost of over $5
Billion, work includes
deepening and
widening the canal
along with adding
newer and larger
locks.
•Click Here to See The Panama
Canal in Action Right NOW!!