The Panama Canal

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The Panama Canal

• Greatest Shortcut on Earth!

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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.

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What the Hecks an Isthmus?
Isnt the Atlantic in the East and Pacific in the
West??
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• By noon the temperature is around 100 degrees.

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• The average yearly rainfall is about 105 inches.
  Flooding makes the ground like pudding, and you
  can sink up to your knees in mud.

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• Its so humid that after it rains steam rises
  from the ground

• Your clothes are nearly always soaking wet.

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• The Jungle grows at an amazing rate! (Panamanian
  Railroad est. in 1855/56)

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• The terrain is NOT level!

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• Tropical diseases, such as yellow fever and
  malaria are spread easily by mosquitoes.

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1880s

• In 1881, the French were given permission to
  build a canal across Panama.

• They do not know how to contend with the diseases
  found in Panama.

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• After eight years and over 20,000 French
  construction worker deaths, the French abandon
  the project.
• The company building the canal goes bankrupt.

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• 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.
• William Gorgas discovered (1898 after the Sp.Am
  War) that mosquitoes cause the diseases - defeat
  them and you end disease!

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• 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.

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• Columbia refuses holding out for more money
• 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.

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• The United States sends warships to protect
  Panama and prevent Columbia from retaking its
  own territory.

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• 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.

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• 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?

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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.
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• Click Here to See How a Lock Works

• (click on Operation when you get to the website)

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Building the Lock Chambers
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In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt visits the
canal zone.Dont you always wear white to a
MUDDY construction site?
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• Construction progresses using steam shovels and
  human muscle
• By 1914, the canal is completed ahead of
  schedule and under budget!

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• More than 922,000 vessels have used the waterway
  since its opening on August 15, 1914.

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• 1977 The United States signed a treaty with
  Panama that agreed to give Panama control of the
  canal in 1999

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• A vessel passing through the Panama Canal pays a
  toll proportionate to its size. The average toll
  is about 45,000

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• 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!!

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• On average, a vessel will take between 8 to 10
  hours to transit.

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• 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

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• 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.

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• Click Here to See The Panama Canal in Action
  Right NOW!!