At 82-kilometre (51 mi) the
Panama Canal is a major shipping canal which connects the Atlantic Ocean (via
the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean.
Whilst work continued until 1914,
the final barrier in the construction, the dike at Gamboa, was demolished on
the 10th October 1913 with the initial detonation set off telegraphically by
President Woodrow
Wilson in Washington. The completion marked 401 years since Vasco
Núñez de Balboa first crossed Panama.
Work on the canal, had begun in
1881, and was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever
undertaken. During the construction engineers excavated over 152,910,972 m3 of
earth; built the world's largest (then) dam and a lake; poured about 1,529,110
m3 of concrete creating a spillway at Gatun Lake to control its height. The
United States spent almost $375,000,000 (roughly equivalent to $8,600,000,000
today). But success came at a heavy price, 5,600 workers died during the final
phase (1904–14), bringing the total death toll for the construction of the canal
to around 27,500.
The canal was formally opened on
August 15, 1914, with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
Image courtesy of The Field
Museum Library under The Commons agreement on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/field_museum_library/3607562265/?reg=1&src=fave
No comments:
Post a Comment