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1500
Idea of the Panama Canal
In the 1500s the idea of building a canal passed around. This is when King Charles 1 of Spain asked his governor to survey a route along the Charles river. Thought at the time it was impossible to go across the mountains and the jungle terrain. -
France First Attempt
In the 1880s France attempted to build the Panama Canal. The leader of this construction was Ferdinand de Lesseps who was also the builder of Suez Canal. Then Lesseps realized that the sea level canal was to difficult. -
United States Gets the Rights
In 1902, the United States bought the French assets that were in the canal zone for $40 million. Then the rights for the United States to build in the Colombian territory got rejected. Therefore the United States put in the military weights in the Panamanian Independence movement leading to finding a deal with the government in 1904 that gave them the rights in perpetuity to the canal zone. -
The Project Begins
In 1904, the United States started plans for a sea-level canal along about 50 miles from Colon to Panama City. The project started with a dedication ceremony. Though chief engineer, John Wallace found immediate problems such as lots of equipment needed to be repair. And adding on lack of employees due to yellow fever and malaria. So the project was resigned for a year. -
New Chief Engineer
In July of 1905, John Stevens took over the role of a chief engineer. He immediately took care of the workforce issues by recruiting West Indian laborers. Also, Stevens ordered new equipment such as a swinging boom, and he adjusted the train route. Adding on Stevens also convinced Roosevelt to build a lock canal. -
Construction Stops
In 1906, President Roosevelt visited the area and the construction seemed to be on track. Though suddenly Stevens resigned the construction. Therefore Roosevelt assigned George Washington Goethals to be the new chief engineer. -
The Locks were Built
In August of 1909, construction of the locks began. These locks were built in Paris at about 110 feet wide and 1,000 feet long. The locks were mainly used to route lifted ships 85 feet above sea level. -
Gamboa Dike
On October 10, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson told the White House to blow up Gamboa Dike. This caused water to flow into the Panama Canal and joined the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This event was celebrated all around the world probably because of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans joining for the first time. -
Coming To a End
In 1913, two steam shovels that were working in the opposite direction finally met. They met in the center of Culebra Cut. A couple of weeks later the last spill from Gamboa Dike was closed. -
Officially Opens
On August 15 of 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened. They had a planned ceremony though it was downgraded due to World War 1. The Panama Canal was completed at a cost of $350 million. This project was the most expensive construction project in the United States history at the time.- Almost 240 million yards of rock and dirt was removed during the construction
- 3.4 million meters of concrete were used to build the locks
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Tons of Achievements
1935- 2010, In 1935 the Panama Canal proved a vital component to expand trade routes for the 20th century. In 1977, a treaty was signed by president Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos [ Panama leader ]. In 1977 the Panama Canal authority had full control of the canal. And in September of 2010 the canal had its one millionth passing ship.
