Panama Canal- Bridge of the America
Background
The Panama Canal celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018. Prior to the construction of this well-known man-made waterway. Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a Spanish adventurer, was the first to find it in 1513. He discovered that Panama was little more than a small land bridge between the Atlantic and Pacific seas. Ever since that, the idea of building a Panama Canal began to grow. After no such route across the isthmus could be detected in 1534, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, conducted a survey to see whether one could be created; however, no one could build a such passage. Many nations considered establishing a canal in the following century, but serious attempt was not done until the 1880s. Until 1881, The US, which desired a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific for economic and military reasons, saw Panama as a viable and safer option. A French company led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, a former diplomat who developed Egypt’s Suez Canal, began digging a canal across Panama under the control of the United States.After nearly a century, the Panama Canal was finally finished in 1914, and officially opened in 1920. The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was the most massive construction project of its day.
Summary
The canal is total 40 miles, approximately 70 kilometers long from one end to the other, and traveling across it may takes around 10 hours, allows carious nations transport their goods between the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines fast and cheaply. The Panama Canal’s commerce is a total measure of global commerce, growing in times of global prosperity and reducing in times of recession. Traffic increased from a low of 807 transits in 1916 to a peak of 15,523 transits of all sorts in 1970. More than 132.5 million long tons (134.6 million metric tons) of goods were transported via the canal in the same year of 1970. Despite the fact that the number of yearly transports has dropped since then, the canal still transports more freight than ever before due to the increasing average size of vessels and barges. In 2013, the canal carried over 210 million long tons (213 million metric tons) of goods. American ships use the canal the most, followed by those from China, Chile, Japan, Colombia and South Korea. Every vessel that transits the canal must pay a toll based on its size and cargo volume. Tolls for the largest ships can run about $450,000. The smallest toll ever paid was 36 cents, plunked down in 1928 by American adventurer Richard Halliburton, who swam the canal. Today, some $1.8 billion in tolls are collected annually.
Apart from the fact that the Panama Canal significantly improved the efficiency of commodities transportation across lands. This constructed canal was also intended to ensure Panama’s independence. The purchase of the French assets was authorized by the United States Congress in 1902. When Colombia, of which Panama was then a part, refused to accept a deal permitting the United States to develop a canal, Panamanians fought against Colombia and declared Panama’s independence the next year. Soon after, the United States, acting as a representative of Panama’s provisional government, signed the Hay-Buneau-Varilla Treaty, which granted America the right to a zone of more than 500 square miles in which to build a canal in exchange for $375 million and ownership of the canal. Despite many oppositions by U.S. politicians, In December 1999, control of the canal was finally peacefully passed to Panama, and Panamanians have been in authority of it ever since. Despite the fact that US administration of the canal had become a cause of tension in US-Panamanian ties, it was considered as a fine example of foreign policy success at the time and is still regarded as the world’s biggest engineering endeavor in the previous century.
Problems encountered during construction
- Mudslides
- Financial crisis
- Floods
- Death tolls
- Tropical diseases
Poor planning, engineering difficulties, and tropical disease killed thousands of workers during the initial stages of the Panama Canal project. The Central American topography descends to a low point in Panama, but remains elevated to elevations of 110 meters above sea level in the lowest regions, implying massive digging if a sea level canal is intended. Rivers and waterfowl running through the canal location posed a significant problem, since heavy rainfall during a wet season would tend to raise water levels along with its flow velocity substantially. As the fast-flowing water enters the canal, this would pose a severe threat to shipping. As a result, streams that were threatening to obstruct the canal had to be diverted. Engineers used cutting-edge technologies to construct a dam near to the river’s mouth, reducing excavation and mitigating flood damage. Another gaven challenge that faced the canal project was diseases in tropics, specifically yellow fever and malaria. Fortunately, the issue of illnesses that had arisen earlier in the project was addressed by the United States through scientific advancements in science. Dr. Reed Walter, a Cuban doctor, had discovered that the mosquito was the carrier of malaria transmission. Engineer John Stevens of the United States then put in place adequate worker shelters and encouraged financing for sanitation improvements. He also focused on mosquito control programming in order to eliminate yellow fever and malaria from the region.
Things to learn
The successfully built canal would greatly improve global trade and boost the country’s economy through cheap and fast waterway transportation. However, it is not always easy to build such a canal that will bring excellent services to the world in a long term. There were enormous problems that arise during the Panama Canal construction, from many times of failures they experienced during an earlier stage of the construction, we learned that it is important to plan ahead and carefully. Take advantage of today’s advanced technology. Consider the timing of the construction, including wet season and extreme hot season, prevent further loss from environmental damage and waste of human resources. Thinking of diseases. Covid-19 for example. It is not a good time to gather thousands of people all together for the project, avoid close contact that stops disease spread.