pancanal

The Panama Canal: 

The Panama Canal

1914 The first ship to pass through the canal (SS Ancon): 

1914 The first ship to pass through the canal (SS Ancon)

Slide3: 

In 1869, Suez Canal was completed: this is where the idea for the Panama Canal began 1881 Ferdinand de Lesseps starts work on the Canal 1884 French have over 19,000 working on the Canal project 1881-1889 Disease runs rampant: Malaria, Yellow Fever and Typhoid (death toll: 22,000) 1889 de Lesseps’ can no longer manage the financial aspects of the project and he declares bankrupcy 1894 New French Company attempts to restart the venture, but is unsuccessful (retain ownership) 1898 Americans send battleship Oregon around South America to aid attack against Cuba in Spanish American War (thus an understanding of the importance of a canal project) The History

Slide4: 

1902 Roosevelt Administration decides to make a trans-oceanic canal a national priority 1903 “Panamanians” (very minor group, encouraged by International Interests) revolt from Columbia and declare independence; US maintains rights to Canal 1904 John F. Wallace named first American Chief Engineer 1905 John F. Stevens succeeds Wallace and introudces plans for a LOCK system with Gatun Lake included in pathway 1906 Army Engineer COL George W. Goethals succeeds Stevens and essentially completes his plan, overcoming enormous health and landslide problems August 1914 the first vessel transits the new Panama Canal, just as World War I erupts

Life for Workers: 

Life for Workers Streets and areas were without sewage and water. This is an example of a street before American occupation and then after. Workers were shipped in from all over the world. Housing and food was provided with wages (but weren’t very high)

Slide7: 

Living conditions for most workers were very poor. This is a workers’ village. Since fatality rates were so high, new workers were constantly being integrated into the project

Slide8: 

Quarantine for a Yellow Fever victim Accidents were common place, both due to natural accidents and mechanical ones

Fighting Mosquitoes (Disease): 

Fighting Mosquitoes (Disease) The canal could not be completed until sanitation problems were solved (Dr. William Gorgas took upon himself the cause of discovering and then fighting the transfer of disease.) ‘Fumigation’ applied to drainage ditches Larvicide stockpile

Slide10: 

Spraying crude oil in ditches to help fight mosquitoes Pay car: men were paid in cash by these mobile cars.

Slide11: 

Colon Hospital Grounds - notice wire mesh screen around exterior to restrict Mosquitoes. Fumigation brigades helped control mosquito populations Buckets, puddles, pans and other potential water collectors were constantly dumped and emptied to minimize mosquito breeding grounds

The Big Cut at Culebra : 

The Big Cut at Culebra One of the largest and most difficult incisions was along the Continental Divide near Culebra, where they had to cut through volcanic rock

Slide13: 

Culebra Cut had numerous landslides, requiring more than 5 times the original excavation.

Slide14: 

Engineering challenges and solutions that had never been done before in every aspect of the Canal’s development The impossible was tried: mechanically, financially, medically, and geographically Construction of Miraflores Lock Doors

Slide15: 

To handle the millions of tons of stone, sand, and cement required for building the locks, ingenious machinery has been installed which automatically selects the right proportions of stone, sand, and cement and mixes the material.  The piles in the foreground in the above picture are sand; the darker piles on the further side of the railway track are stone.   Grab-buckets shoot down from the arms of the crane, bite into the piles, shoot back to the crane, and feed their loads into the mixer, where cement has been already delivered in bags or barrels.)