A Panama Guide

The U.S. faced unprecedented challenges with this project in engineering, health, and organization.  Learning from the errors of the French, the U.S. was determined not to underestimate the difficulties of creating a canal in the tropics.  Work “began” on May 4, 1904 when the officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lieutenant Mark Brooke, received the keys to the hospital at Ancon.  One of the first to arrive was Chief Sanitation Officer Dr. William C. Gorgas.  Dr. Gorgas brought to Panama a wealth of experience garnered in Cuba under Dr. Walter Reed in regard to the control of tropical diseases, especially Yellow Fever and Malaria.  Unfortunately, the Isthmian Canal Commission did not fully support Dr. Gorgas and considered his safety measures a waste of time and money.  However, in 1905, John F. Stevens became the chief engineer of the canal and he provided Dr. Gorgas with full funding and support.  With the support of Stevens, Gorgas was able to eliminate Yellow Fever completely from Isthmus and almost eliminate Malaria, which had been the scourge of the French.

As chief engineer, John F. Stevens laid out the plans for the canal, plans partially based on a study conducted by French engineer, Adolphe Godin de Lepinay.  In this plan the U.S. would forgo the original French design of building a sea-level canal because it was deemed too costly thus, taking far greater time to complete; in the practical sense a sea-level canal was virtually impossible to create.  It was therefore deduced that a lock and artificial lake system would be the most prudent course of action.  The final design would call for a lock on the Atlantic side, artificial lakes created by dams, and two locks on the Pacific side to try to manage the extreme tides.  Stevens initially began with improvements to the Panama Railroad due to the railroad eventually becoming the lifeblood of the Canal as it would be used for transporting workers and for the removal of spoil (rock and soil).

Col. George Washington Goethals succeeded Stevens as chief engineer in 1907 during the construction phase of the Canal. Until completion, Goethals stated:  “Stevens devised, designed, and made provision for practically every contingency connected with the construction and subsequent operation of the stupendous project… It is therefore to him, much more than to me, that justly belongs the honor of being the actual ‘Genius of the Panama Canal…’”
On August 15, 1914 the Panama Canal opened its floodgates for the first time to allow the S.S. Ancon to traverse from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in nine hours and forty minutes.  The dream of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans had become a reality.  Construction was completed in 10 years, with the labor of over 75,000 men and women and with a final cost of 375 million dollars with another $12 million for fortifications.  At the time of the Canal’s completion, the U.S. had created the largest earthen dam, largest artificial lake, and largest sets of canal locks in history and was also the most expensive construction project in U.S. history.  Canal construction consumed more than 2.5 million barrels of concrete and 61 million pounds of dynamite. By July 1914, the U.S. had excavated 238,845,587 cubic yards of spoil.  Together with the 30,000,000 cubic yards that the French excavated, the grand excavation total was approximately 268,000,000 cubic yards, more than four times the volume originally estimated for de Lesseps’ vision of a sea level canal.

The first crossing of the S.S. Ancon through the canal was not marked by the grandiose celebration that was originally planned due to the start of World War I in Europe.  Instead, a smaller commemoration took place for the opening of the Panama Canal and became part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Both the U.S. and Panama rejoiced since both nations played a part in bringing to realization a dream 400 years in the making.  Once the canal was completed and after dismantling equipment and breaking down towns, the men and women of the canal went their separate ways.  Gorgas left Panama for the shores of South Africa to assist gold miners who were sick with pneumonia and later would become Surgeon General of the Army.  The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed George Washington Goethals as the first Governor of the Panama Canal Zone.

The Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty had always been a source of tension for the Panamanians.  The treaty had always been thought of as being unjust because it truly felt like it had given more to the U.S. than it had to Panama; this made the citizens of Panama believe their country was not fairly compensated. The issue of perpetual U.S. ownership of the Canal Zone was a major concern.  Over the years, Panamanians voiced their concerns over the inequality of various treaties with peaceful demonstrations.  However, on January 9, 1964, demonstrators from both the Canal Zone and Panama lost control and got into violent altercations; people on both sides lost lives and property. It became clearer to both countries that a nation inside of another nation would not work.  As a result, the Republic of Panama and the United States of America agreed to sign the Torrijos/Carter Treaty, which eliminated the Canal Zone as of October 1, 1979.  It also set in motion the process that would give Panama back complete control over the canal and the former territory of the Canal Zone by December 31,1999.  On December 31,1999, at noon, the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) or Panama Canal Authority took full control of the canal and with this tremendous transition, the country of Panama became whole again.

The Panama Canal is approximately 80 km long running northwest to southeast.  The Atlantic entrance to the canal is approximately 43 km west of the entrance on the Pacific.  Ships entering the Panama Canal from the Atlantic side enter via the Bahia Limon; a natural harbor that is the “waiting area” for this side of the canal.  Once a ship leaves the Bahia there is an approach to the Gatun Lock.  The 1.9 km long Gatun Lock is composed of three chambers of locks that raise ships to a height of 26 meters above sea level.  Each chamber is 33.5 meters wide and 306 meters long and takes eight to 15 minutes to fill with water.  Once ships exit the Gatun Lock, they are in Gatun Lake, which was once the largest artificial lake in world.  Most ships travel the 37.6 km through the Gatun Lake and the Chagres River to reach Culebra Cut (formerly the Galliard Cut), where the canal passes through the continental divide.  Culebra Cut was one of the biggest nightmares for construction crews as landslides were, and still are prevalent, requiring continuous dredging.  Once ships pass the Culebra Cut they arrive at the single chamber Pedro Miguel Lock that lowers ships 9.4 meters for entry into the 1.7 km long Lake Miraflores.  The Miraflores Lock is composed of two chambers and is the final lock system of the Canal; it lowers ships the final 16 meters back to sea level.  Upon exiting the Miraflores Lock, ships travel the 13.2 km channel and under the Puente de las Americas to the Gulf of Panama and the Pacific Ocean.  The typical voyage time through the Panama Canal is usually 24 hours and approximately half of that time is used simply waiting for a slot in lock.  With each ship traversing through the canal, 52 million gallons of freshwater is released into the oceans, thus giving the Charges River the distinction of being the only river in the world whose waters flow into two oceans.  The Panama Canal is open 365 days of the year and runs continually all 24 hours offering its services to ships of all nations.

At the Pacific side of the Canal, the Miraflores Locks are open to the general public via the Miraflores Visitors Center.  More than 300,000 visit this modern engineering marvel every year to get a closer perspective of the canal locks at work.  The Visitor Center has an observatory, a restaurant, shops for refreshments and souvenirs, an event hall, and a museum with numerous displays.  These displays enlighten visitors with scientific, historical, and virtual displays of the canal.

And now we continue with the Panama Canal….

Many other ideas and projects were formulated by explorers, scientist, and others such as Simon Bolivar and Francisco de Paula Santander to build this waterway; the notions failed to come to fruition.  In 1878, a contract was signed between Napoleon Bonaparte Wise and the Colombian government, which was than transferred to the “Compania Universal del Canal Interoceanico,” the company owned by the famous French engineer Count Ferdinand de Lesseps who had just received world-wide acclaim for the completion of the Suez Canal.

The French eagerly began construction of the canal in 1882, anticipating to duplicate the same reward garnered from an earlier canal venture.  Unfortunately for the French, the jungles and mountains of Panama were far harder to tame than the flat dry desert of Egypt.  Combined with high levels of corruption, tropical diseases, and finally a lack of capital, the venture folded.  For 20 years the “Panama Canal” remained dormant until the United States was once again became interested in building a canal in the region.  President William McKinley commissioned Rear Admiral John G. Walker to study the best route for a U.S. canal.  The two options for possible studies were routes via Panama and Nicaragua.  The Isthmus Canal Commission initiated their studies in 1900 and concluded that a canal via Nicaragua was a more viable proposition.  However, history was changed when Philippe Bunau-Varilla, a major investor in the New Panama Canal Company and the successor of the failed French company that originated the canal, and William Nelson Cromwell, the new French company’s lawyer in New York, sent a postage card to every US senator.  These postage cards depicted the eruption of the Momotombo Volcano located in Nicaragua and the commission, soon after, deemed it would be too risky to construct in an area with volcanic activity; however, Bunau-Varilla and Cromwell never mentioned that Momotombo was over a hundred miles away from the purposed Nicaraguan canal route. This set into action the interest of the U.S. in purchasing the rights from the French to build a canal in Panama.  The U.S. quickly drafted a treaty with Colombia called the Herran-Hay treaty. However, members of the Colombian Conservative Party led by Senators Miguel Antonio Caro, and Juan Perez -Soto, decided to raise the flag of nationalism and sovereignty and unanimously rejected the treaty. Colombia had decided to wait on the United States as the French concession would expire in October of 1904 and would revert the French canal project back to Colombia.  This would allow unfettered negotiations without any compensation for the French.

This critical decision by the Colombian government ignited a wave of discontent and further stirred the pro-independence movement led by Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero in Colombia’s far off northwest territory of Panama.  However, this decision inflamed Bunau-Varilla and his New Panama Canal Company, as they would face financial ruin.  Aligning himself with the pro-independence movement, Bunau-Varilla created a plan for a revolution. Gathered with a group of revolutionaries in room 1162 of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, Bunau-Varilla drew up many of the plan’s details such as a Panamanian Constitution (modeled after Cuba’s) and fund raising for bribes.  The revolutionaries were able to buy the support of approximately 500 Colombian troops stationed in Panama along with several members of the fire department.  However, the most important support that Bunau-Varilla sought to acquire was that of United States.  After informal meetings in Washington, Bunau-Varilla left confident that the U.S. would not allow the revolution to fail.

Armed with insider information, Bunau-Varilla informed his fellow conspirators in Panama that the U.S.S. Nashville would arrive in Panama on November 2nd.  On the very next day the Panama indepence revolutionaries revolted aided by the presence of the U.S.S Nashville gunboat, which prevented Colombian forces from initially landing in Colon, and the U.S. reinforcement that arrived shortly after in the form of 400 marines. The U.S.S Atlanta, U.S.S Maine, U.S.S. Mayflower, U.S.S Prairie on the Atlantic coast, the U.S.S Boston, U.S.S Marblehead, U.S.S Concord and U.S.S Wyoming, all arrived on the Pacific coast; Panama was quickly officially recognized by the U.S. as a sovereign nation after a bloodless revolution that took place in three days.

Panama’s new government instructed acting “Panamanian” emissary to Washington, Bunau-Varilla, to wait for the Panamanian delegation to arrive in Washington to review and sign any canal agreement.  However, Bunau-Varilla was concerned over protecting French investments (especially his own) in the canal. He, therefore, offered Secretary of State John M. Hay even better terms than the U.S. was expecting in order to get approval of a treaty before the Panamanian delegation arrived.  Thus, the Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed only two weeks after the Panamanian independence and was labeled as the Panamanian treaty that had no Panamanians and would lead to numerous disputes in the U.S.- Panama relations.

The Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty stated that the U.S. would guarantee the sovereignty of the newly formed republic, pay Panama $10 million dollars and $250,000 annually starting nine years after the signing of the treaty.  In return, the United States would receive 5 miles on either side of the canal to form a zone to protect the canal, islands in the new Canal Zone, the right to use military forces in Panama in order to protect the canal, and have a perpetual lease on a particular section of Panama.  A year later, the United States acquired the rights and property of the French (including Bunau-Varilla’s) for 40 million dollars.

To be continued……

I’ve been getting many request on the Panama Canal – so I thought I would include the section on the Panama Canal from the book.  Here is the first section.

The Panama Canal

Since the time of discovery by the Spanish, a waterway to traverse Panama had become a challenge to many diverse nations and generations. Spanish, English, French, American, Colombian, Panamanians, and many others were intrigued by this possibility.  Many great men put their efforts into making the dream of a canal into a reality.  These men dared to explore the unknown. Through engineering and creative studies, throughout endless negotiations of treaties, through backbreaking labor with picks and shovels, through the danger of tropical diseases, and even through the creation a new independent nation, these men followed a dream. This is their story, one of heroism, sacrifice, and passion.

A mere 21 years had passed since Christopher Columbus’s first voyage into the New World and barely 12 years after Rodrigo de Bastidas stepped the first European foot on Panama, when Vasco Nunez de Balboa began his journey overland across Panama on September 2,1513.  Searching for the existence of “the other sea” and its potential for greater gold, Balboa and his 190 men followed the direction of Panquiaco, the son of a native tribal chief. Panquiaco informed Balboa of the existence of a vast ocean if he journeyed south across the Isthmus.  On September 25, 1513, Balboa, from the vantage point of a mountaintop, was able to see for the first time the blue Southern Sea, which famed Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan would later rechristen as the Pacific Ocean.

From the moment of Balboa’s discovery, the European desire to build a bridge between the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean was born.  In 1534, Emperor Carlos V of Spain, commissioned Alvaro de Saavedra to study the possibility of constructing a canal to unite the two oceans.  Hernando de la Serna and Pablo Corso explored the Rio Chagres; Alvaro de Quijio did the same for the Rio Grande in hopes of finding a waterway shortcut.  In the 17th century, Felipe III suggested initiating studies of the Darien to find a feasible route. However, the Indies Counsel decided that a waterway passage would be a tempting prize for other nations, and based on this, the crown forbade under penalty of death any attempts to build a canal on the Isthmus.  In the beginning of the 19th century, the Venezuelan general, Francisco de Miranda, who was fighting for the independence of Spain’s American colonies, proposed to England that they could build a canal in Panama in return for military assistance in the conflict.

In 1835, the idea of a canal caught the interest of the United States. President Andrew Jackson sent Colonel Charles Biddle to request a concession by the government of Granada to allow the U.S. the right to construct a canal.  The Granada government did award the right to build a canal to a Granada company that Colonel Biddle was associated with but failed to give the U.S. entire rights. The project failed because the company could not obtain the needed funds and it lacked the support of the U.S. government.

To be continued…

The creation of the Panama Canal that connected the two oceans meant that Panama would be divided in half. This created a problem at the opening of the Canal in 1914.

The creation of the Puente de las Americas in 1962 assuredly reconnected the two parts of the country and replaced the old cumbersome ferry system that has been in place. However due to population growth, it was recognized that an additional crossing would be necessary. After abundant diligence, the project to design and assemble the new bridge was awarded to two German companies. Bilfinger Berger was selected to create the actually span created by Leonhardt Andra and Partner. The plan culminated in 29 months with an absolute cost of $104,337,000 and was inaugurated by President Mireya Moscoso on August 15, 2004.

The arch is stretched cable stayed fabricated of concrete and steel with six lanes. The length is 1,053 meters and is 80 meters aloft from the Canal. The Puente Centenario is one part of a avant-garde artery arrangement the unites the Pan-American Artery in Arraijjan with the highway from Paraiso, the Corredor Norte, the Panama-Colon Artery and the Avenida Ricardo J. Alfaro.

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An almost “live” view of the Miraflores Lock of the Panama Canal.  Picture refreshes in approximately every 15 seconds.