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Panama Canal
1.)Completed in 1913 -
The First transit
The Panama Railway steamship SS Ancon, piloted by Captain John A. Constantine, the Canal's first pilot, made the first official transit of the canal on August 15, 1914. -
Workers
More than 75,000 men and women worked on the project in total; at the height of construction, there were 40,000 workers working on it. According to hospital records, 5,609 workers died from disease and accidents during the American construction era. -
Canal barriers
One of the greatest barriers to a canal was the continental divide, which originally rose to 110 metres above sea level at its highest point; the effort to create a cut through this barrier of rock was clearly one of the greatest challenges faced by the project, and is said to be one of the biggest feats. -
Problems (health)
The most serious problem of all, however, was tropical disease, particularly malaria and yellow fever. It was such a problem because they were not sure how anyone was contracting these sicknesses. -
Historic event
Upon reaching its centennial, the Panama Canal wasundergoing the biggest project from its inception, an expansion with the construction of a third set of locks. The expansion works began on September 3, 2007, after six years of study and the approval by national referendum in October 2006. The project consists of two new sets of locks that will add a third lane to allow the transit of vessels with greater cargo volumes, thus doubling the capacity of the waterway to meet the increasing demand o
