Vocabulary

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Building the Panama Canal

It’s one of the most important waterways in the world, a vital trade route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through which hundreds of millions of tons of products move every year.

But the story behind the Panama Canal is equally monumental.

 
The idea for cutting a canal through some part of Central America to avoid the long voyage around Cape Horn goes back to the 1500s when King Charles the First of Spain asked his Regional Governor to survey a possible route.

Back then, the mountainous terrain and tropical climate made the task impossible.

 
But fast forward almost 400 years, and it was the French, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal in Egypt, who first began excavating a canal in Panama, which was then a province of Colombia.

Plagued by deadly diseases, the workforce was quickly decimated. After eight years and 20,000 deaths, the project went bust, and all construction stopped.

 
But when Panama won its independence from Colombia in 1903, her mission was granted from the US to give it a try. In return for 10 million upfront and an annual payment of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, it was a gamble. But if it worked, the US would control a vital transportation route.

Construction began again in 1904 but was immediately met with logistical problems, construction accidents, and disease.

Having identified the source of the problem, US Army surgeon Major Dr. William Gorgas introduced mosquito breeding reduction techniques to prevent the transmission of yellow fever and malaria.

 
John Stevens, the new chief engineer, developed an ingenious lock system to overcome the mountainous terrain and to speed up the job. Laborers recruited from the West Indies operated two steam shovels working from opposite directions.

 
And in 1905, the Panama Canal officially opened. But at an enormous cost, including the lives of nearly 6,000 people, although historians believe the real toll may have been much higher.

In 1999, the US handed over full control of the Waterway to Panama, and in 2016, the canal was enlarged to accommodate larger shipping vessels. Since it first opened, more than a million ships have completed the 8 to 10-hour journey through the canal, making it one of the greatest engineering feats of all time.

Questions

 
Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is important mainly for tourism. The Panama Canal is vital for tourists traveling on ocean liners. True or false?

Suez Canal (Egypt). Was the idea of creating a waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans first proposed by the British Royal Navy in the 1800s? Why couldn’t a canal be constructed in the 1500s?

Grand Canal (China). The United States was the first to try to create the canal. Is this right or wrong? Was Ferdinand de Lesseps a neophyte or did he have a lot of experience in canal construction?

Erie Canal (US). Did the French succeed in constructing and completing the canal? Why did they fail?

Trans-Siberian Railway. Did the Panama Canal and its construction only involve science, engineering and finance; or did it also involve politics and geopolitics?

Golden Gate Bridge. What problems and challenges did the engineers, builders, and construction workers face? How did they solve these problems and overcome these challenges?

Hoover Dam. Did the construction of the Panama Canal involve great sacrifices? How much did it cost the US?

Transcontinental Railroad (US). Who controls the Panama Canal?
 
 
 
Interstate Highway. My friends and I have sailed through the Panama Canal. Yes or no? Would you like to travel through the Panama Canal?

Pan American Highway. What great feats of engineering or construction have you seen or visited?

Great Wall of China. What great engineering works do you know of?

Terraced Rice Paddies. Should people create more engineering projects? What are some possible projects? What could or should people build or create?

Roman Aqueducts. What might happen in the future?