Some called it plain insanity, others called it the test of mankind’s ability.
Some shook their head with disbelief, others marched on and kept faith.
For a long time, the Panama Canal was shrouded with a long troubled history until its official opening in 1914 – it faced problems from malaria to yellow fever to lack of funding to unforgiving geography terrains – taking almost 30 years and more than 20,000 lives to be completed.
Today, it is considered as one of the most marvelous engineering achievement of its time, given the limited tools and machinery back then. A timeless achievement connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean together – cutting down shipping time via the old route of Cape Horn by at least half (including waiting time at the Canal).
Picture above taken from http://www.vacationstogo.com/cruise_port/Cape_Horn.cfm depicting the whereabouts of Cape Horn and the Canal to illustrate the cut in time taken to get from the Atlantic to Pacific.
The below image depicts the route which the Canal runs through Panama. Image taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Panama_Canal_Rough_Diagram.png.
Without getting into too much detail (Knowing how much love we have for History), here’s a short timeline of the History of Canal that I created myself, adapted from http://www.eclipse.co.uk/~sl5763/panama.htm.
A timeline history of the building of the Panama Canal
The U.S. controlled the canal and the surrounding zones until 1977 when the Torrijos–Carter Treaties was signed – giving the Canal back to the Panama government. For almost 20 years from 1979-1999, the canal was under joint operations between the U.S. and Panama government, before it was handed to the Panama Canal Authority in December 1999, an agency under the Panama government.
Today, the Panama canal is running at its full capacity – almost never taking a break from the hustle bustle of ships passing through it. In fact, its currently undergoing an expansion plan to build a third set of locks that is estimated to cost about $15-25 billion USD. The new lock would efficiently double the Canal’s holding capacity as well as become more environmental friendly – saving billions of tons of water as a result from the mechanism of the locks.
Today, we have to thank the visionaries who saw the potential of the “shortcut” through Panama, saving us precious time. Today, we have to thank the persevering leaders, the brilliant engineers, the brave young men that dug through the canal, battling all sorts of tropical diseases and home-sickness. For without them, the Canal would not be a reality today. For because of them, we know no limits of mankind’s ability.
I know not everyone is a passive learner (I’m certainly not), so here’s a time-lapse video I found from YouTube that shows a cruise ship crossing the Canal. Notice how the lock works - amazing simply yet fascinating. Don’t worry it won’t take you 10 hours!
Approximately a month before I experience the Grand Canal with my own eyes, can’t tell you how excited I am! Share with me what you think of the Canal, what do you think of the locks (would a sea-level canal worked?) or better still some images that you might have taken shall you visited the Canal!
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