In November 1904, American workers began completion of the Panama Canal. American officials wanted to avoid the problems that caused France to abandon the project. They wanted to protect workers from disease. An engineer, John F. Stevens, was sent to the work camp in Panama. He began building hospitals as well as water and sewage systems making the working conditions sanitary. He supported the camp doctor’s efforts to fight mosquitoes, the cause of malaria and yellow fever. All of these efforts helped to keep the workers healthy and focused on the task at hand.
Using the Panama Canal
Since the water level of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans is not the same, a system of locks and gates had to be built in the canal. These locks are a pathway for ships to move from one ocean to the other. A lock is a giant box made of concrete. A ship must pass through three locks in the Panama Canal. Each lock holds millions of gallons of water. A ship moves into a lock, which is filled with water. Water is pumped into the lock or out of the lock. This raises or lowers the ship to the level of water in the next lock. The gates open, and the ship moves into the next lock.
By early 1913, the canal was nearly complete. It took several months to fill the canal with water. On September 26, 1913, an old tugboat was the first ship through the canal. Thousands of people watched and cheered. The locks worked perfectly.
In modern times, approximately 14,000 ships make the 50-mile trip through the canal each year. On average, the trip through the canal takes a ship 8 to 10 hours. The ship captain does not steer the ship through the canal. A specially trained canal pilot takes control of the vessel and expertly guides it through the canal.
Time, money, and possibly even lives have been saved as ships use the shorter route from ocean to ocean provided by the canal. The Panama Canal, a highway of water, is a phenomenon.