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Panama Canal, Uniting Two Oceans
More than 2.13 million
Panamanians have been called to
a referendum on October 22, to
decide whether to extend the
canal, one of the most important
engineering works of the 20th
century.
The inter-oceanic channel,
varying between 39 and 46 feet
in depth and between 295 and
1,148 feet in width, was
inaugurated August 15, 1914 by
the vessel Ancon, and permitted
cutting both distance and time
in maritime communication,
bringing economic and trade
benefits.
The antecedents of the canal go
back to 1534, when Spain s King
Carlos V ordered the first
studies to build a canal.
A French company, led by the
creator of the Suez Canal in
Egypt -- Ferdinand de Lesseps,
began the work in 1880 but
failed, mainly due to the
constant outbreaks of yellow
fever, an endemic disease in the
region at the time.
Nine years later, a fraud
scandal broke that led the
company into bankruptcy and
caused interruption of the
excavations.
The human cost of the project
was even higher: more than
22,000 workers died due to the
frequent landslides, accidental
explosions with dynamite, and
tropical diseases.
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