Panama Canal

By lanemcmurtrey

  • First thought of canal from altantic to pacific.

  • American men start to survey panama to find a possible route for canal

  • french get a plan approved for building of panama canal

  • french start construction

  • epidemic of yellow fever and malaria, slowly kills off the french workers

  • french run out of money and the US takes over

  • First steam shovel is brough in. excavation speeds up

  • towns start surrounding the canal work site, with schools and cookhouses.

  • By the end of the year, over 37 million cubic yards of earth have been excavated, half the amount the French accomplished in 17 years.

  • Over a million cubic yards are added to the Gatún Dam each month as it slowly builds up in height and strength.

  • After a final push of excavation, an unbroken waterway connects the Atlantic to the Pacific.

  • The Gatún Dam is complete. The spillway gates are closed, and the new lake fills to its full height.

  • The Panama Canal officially opens. The toll to cross is 90 cents per cargo ton.

  • canal is used widely to supply troops during korean war