Image of the Panama Canal will a mound of dirt that has blocked the passage way. There are various boats that are blocked on either side of the landslide.

Source: Landslide, Library of Congress

Landslides were one of the dangers of constructing the Panama Canal. This is a photo of a landslide of ten million yards of earth entirely blocking the canal.

How do you think American engineers were able to overcome problems like landslides during the canal's construction?

Image of men working at the bottom of the canal. Some of the men are standing on a mechanism that is dug deeply into the ground. There is a crane on the left side of the photo and a crudely constructed one and a half story building exists in the background on the right.

Source: Panama Canal, Harris & Ewing 03147, Library of Congress

This photo shows the various tasks that construction workers had on the construction of the Panama Canal.

Think about construction sites that you have seen. Does this site look like any that you have seen? What is different? What is similar?

Dividing the Work

In 1907, President Roosevelt decided to put the project in the hands of the U.S. Army with Major George Washington Goethals in charge. Very little new construction had been completed, but in terms of preparation, much was accomplished. Goethals divided the project into three divisions: Atlantic, Central, and Pacific.

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. Click on the circles to learn more about the three divisions.

Work in the three divisions occurred simultaneously until May 20, 1913, when steam shovels made a passage through the Culebra Cut at the level of the canal bottom. Just four months later, dry excavation ended on September 10, 1913, and on January 7, 1914, the Alexandre La Valley, an old French crane boat, became the first ship to make a complete transit of the Panama Canal.

These photos illustrate how Panama Canal functions today:

image of the Panama Canal, within the locks. There is one large ship in the background; there is a smaller boat and a tug in the foreground.

Source: B1pm14, Central Intelligence Agency

Today, the Panama Canal accommodates various sizes of ships.

Image of two tug boats waiting at the locks in the Panama Canal.

Source: B1pm15, Central Intelligence Agency

Video segment. Assistance may be required. Watch the time lapsed video of a journey through the Panama Canal. Notice how the locks operate, the size of Gatun Lake, and the various vessels that use the canal.

Source: The Panama Canal Time Lapsed in HD, Sideytime, YouTube

Activity:

Based on what you have learned in this lesson, answer the following questions in your notes.

  1. Do you believe that the lock system is important to the Panama Canal? Explain your answer.
  2. Why were the Americans successful at completing the canal where the French failed? Cite two examples to support your answers.