The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal connects on a length of 50 miles Panama City on the Pacific Ocean with Colón on the Atlantic Ocean. Before the canal had been built, the shortest way from the US East- to West coast was the circumnavigation of Cape Horn. With the opening of the canal this route was shortened by approximately 12’000 miles.
On a passage through the canal three sets of locks and two artificial lakes, Gatún and Miraflores, are traversed. The difference in elevation between Atlantic and Pacific is only 24 cm, but the vessels are lifted to the height of Gatún Lake, 26 meters above sea level, to cross the continental divide. The locks are operated without any pumps, only by gravity. Each filling of the locks wastes 52 million gallons of fresh water!
After Vasco Nuñez de Balboa was the first conquistador to discover the Pacific Ocean in 1513, the idea of a canal connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean were first laid out by the Spanish King Karl V in 1523. But at that time it was not possible to actually build the Canal. It was until after the financial success of the Suez Canal, opened in 1869, that the plans became concrete. A French conglomerate started work on the canal in 1881. The constructors assumed to be capable to build the Panama Canal as easily as the Suez Canal. Unfortunately they had to experience, that constructing a canal through the hilly jungle of Panama is quite something different to a flat desert. In 1889 the work at the canal was ceased. Until then, only one sixth of the canal had been completed. But during the eight years of construction approximately 22’000 people died of malaria and yellow fever – this means more than 7.5 deaths per day. 1902 the entire project was sold for 40 million US Dollar to the United States. Before that, the US had checked various possibilities of a canal in different parts of Central America.
As a consequence to this sale and with the support of the United States, Panama declared its independence from Colombia in 1903. With a treaty Panama granted the US the occupation and use of a 10 miles wide and 50 miles long strip across the Isthmus – the Canal Zone. In 1906 the US started with the construction of the Canal and on August 15 in 1914 the first ship successfully crossed the Panama Canal.
Due to the administrative sovereignty of the US over the Canal Zone various conflicts between Panama and the United States arose. In 1977 former US president Jimmy Carter signed the Torrijos-Carter-Treaty which regulated the return of the Canal in the hands of the Panamanian Government by the end of the millennium. As a matter of fact, the Panama Canal was handed over to Panama on December 31st 1999. Since then, the ACP (Panama Canal Authority) manages and administrates the Canal.
For several years an extension of the Panama Canal has been discussed. In a constitutional referendum in 2006 78% of the Panamanian people voted in favor of extending the Canal. On September 3rd 2007 the construction began. The target is to broaden the locks to allow bigger vessels the passage through the Canal.
