I don't remember when I first learned about the Panama Canal. But, growing up in the post-WWII era it seemed like something that was just there and we took it for granted until it was given away in the late 70's. But, there's much more to the story. The engineering feat that it represented truly makes it one of the wonders of the modern world.
To learn about the canal we went to two museums. The Panama Canal Museum in Casco Viejo and the Museum at Miraflores Lock. After going through them I was disappointed and wanted to learn more so I read two antiquarian books that were published contemporaneously with the opening of the canal.
Panama was formed by volcanoes that rose from the bottom of the sea between north and south America and over millennia formed the connection between the continents. Because it was formed by lava flows from volcanic peaks there were low points and it was the low point that formed the isthmus between the continents that could be exploited as the site of the legendary canal. The value of this area was not lost on indigenous people who traversed it and later shared their knowledge with the Spanish when they arrived in the early 1500's. From the first days of their involvement the Kings of Spain dreamed of building a connection between the two oceans through Panama.
The early Spanish built the Camino Real to transport the spoils to Portobelo that were brought to Panama from other colonies for shipment to Spain. Portobelo and Panama became targets of many pirates looking for riches. In more recent precanel days, ships entered the rivers on both sides of the continents connecting with roads and trails that passed through the jungle and hills thereby connecting the two rivers. Later a railroad connected the two sides of the continent. Most of the people going to California for the "gold-rush" sailed from the US East Coast to Panama and crossed the isthmus by carriage or train to the Pacific side and then sailed on to California,
The first modern canal effort came from the French. The team that assembled to build the canal included Ferdinand de Lesseps who built the Suez Canal. It was their belief that a sea-level canal could be built just like in the Sinai. Although to their credit they realized the huge tide swings on the Pacific side required a lock.. They thought that the mountainous jungle of Panama could be worked with more digging just like digging through desert sand. They had no concept of moving mountains or dealing with the torrential rains of Panama. Besides the engineering obstacles they failed to understand, the French effort was plagued with corruption and eventually the project ran out of money since the construction was financed through public sales of stock and bonds. As news of the corruption and construction failures spread nobody would invest and the effort collapsed. A second French effort was formed but never really got started. By the time the second effort started the new managers believed that a locked system was needed.
There were efforts to build trans-ocean links in Mexico and Nicaragua besides Panama. The United States through the time of the French project was studying the concept of a canal through Nicaragua. The US Congress even passed legislation that Nicaragua was the preferred route. But, with the failed French effort Colombia made the US a deal it couldn't refuse. However, after making the deal Colombia believed they could extract more money from the US and the Colombian legislature refused to ratify the treaty. After being repulsed by Colombia the US supported the Panamanians that wanted to secede. The historical relationship between Panama and Colombia is a study onto itself.
Throughout most of it's history the government of Colombia viewed Panama as a stepchild. For many years in the 19th Century it was almost totally autonomous. But, then a new government came in and saw Panama as a resource it could exploit. The Panamanians were agitating for independence long before the US came along. Once Panama was independent Panama was willing to give the US everything and more than they requested to complete the canal.
Having obtained the rights to the Panama Railroad and the canal concession the Americans focused on one critical factor that decimated the French. No canal could be built if they didn't solve the diseases of Malaria and Yellow Fever. Through experience and work in other countries like Cuba they learned about the role of the mosquito in transmitting these diseases and immediately began a campaign to eradicate them. It included draining swamps, paving the streets in Panama and Colon, installing a sanitary water and refuse system, and killing mosquito larvae wherever it was. Through these efforts the American project could succeed. The French project lost thousands of lives to the diseases.
At the same time the disease control was being implemented the US assembled a group of leading engineers from around the world to evaluate a plan for building the canal. This august body concluded by majority vote that a sea level canal was best following the French example. A minority reported that a lock system using an inland lake could be used and provided the conditions that were later used to build the canal. US President Teddy Roosevelt had the foresight to accept the minority report to build the canal.
Because of the notorious corruption that plagued the French effort the project was given to the US Army Corps of Engineers and would be closely audited to ensure the fidelity of the investment by the US. Maj George Washington Goethals of the Army Corps of Engineers was assigned to build the canal. The concept was the 4 locks on the Atlantic side and 3 locks on the Pacific side with a lake between them to float the ships across the continent.
The project was built at great cost in labor, material and human loss. But, it was brought in ahead of schedule and under budget. Because there had never been any project of this scale done before machinery had to be designed and built for the work and for the canal operation. Much of it accomplished by the engineers working on the canal. About 200 million cubic yards of material were removed in the construction including massive amounts from the Culebra Cut which is the Continental Divide and the highest point of the route which had to be reduced for the level canal water with the depth for ships to pass and be maintained. During the construction the sides of Culebra collapsed until the engineers figured how far and at what degree the angles of the cut had to be to prevent future collapses.
Shelter Bay Marina sits in what was no doubt the Officer's Club on old Fort Sherman. There are concrete pads in the water for docking seaplanes and the post theater is now the sail loft.
The engineers working this project, nor anyone else in the world for that matter, had ever dealt with a project of this magnitude and with the extreme climatic onditions. For example, the engineers found the highest level of flooding in the Chagres river and doubled it to determine the maximum amount of stress that could be placed on the system that would be contained by Lake Gatun. The base of the Gatun Dam is 1/2 mile thick and made of many different layers of river mud, gravel and concrete and the spillways capable of diverting enough flow so the dam will never be stressed and in over 100 years of performance has never failed.
The ruins of Battery Mower that featured some of the largest gun emplacements on the Atlantic side of the canal. A rail system internally was used for cars to move the projectiles for the guns.
In spite of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and violent weather the canal has continued operating.Less than 10 years ago the new locks of the Panama Canal were opened that could allow larger ships to pass through. However, the original infrastructure of the canal is still intact. Lake Gatun as originally designed and constructed over 100 years ago supplies water to both sets of lock systems, the hydroelectric power systems and the drinking water for Panama without modification. There is now concern that there is not enough water to sustain the operation. The blame is being placed on climate change but, when you expand the requirements with more than doubling the canal size, Panama City is now 100 times larger than it was 100 years ago and there has been no new water sources identified. What do you expect will occur?
Of course the history of the canal includes the history of the Canal Zone which was ceded by Panama to the US for the security and efficient operation of the canal. In the Zone were 22 military installations that included coastal defense batteries, naval stations, air fields and supply depots.With the turnover of the Canal many of the former US installations are being used for wide-reaching purposes. Besides those supporting the canal operations, most have been converted to some commercial purpose mostly supporting Panama's logistical infrastructure. In the area of Colon many have been converted to a large "Duty-free Zone" for tourists to come and buy a wide range of products duty free. Many of the buildings and much of the infrastructure the US left behind that is still in use is still standing and functional. Much of it has turned into ruins. The coastal batteries that were built to withstand heavy naval bombardment are still standing but have been reclaimed by the jungle.
More scenes from the batteries
Transiting the Panama Canal is a unique and remarkable experience. But gaining insight into the wonder that is the Canal must give one pause to appreciate the level of human achievement and technological progress represented there.
