Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of canals, and his family:

Digging the Panama Canal would be a huge job. The man picked to lead the job was Count Ferdinand de Lesseps of France. He had finished building the Suez Canal in November 1869 and it was a great success, so people saw him as the best person to lead the effort in Panama....[More]

Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of canals, and his family:

Digging the Panama Canal would be a huge job. The man picked to lead the job was Count Ferdinand de Lesseps of France. He had finished building the Suez Canal in November 1869 and it was a great success, so people saw him as the best person to lead the effort in Panama. But the canal in Panama turned out to be more difficult than anyone had imagined. The ground was rocky and full of sticky mud, so big digging machines had a hard time. Thousands of workers got sick and died from illnesses like malaria and yellow fever. The company was badly run and eventually it ran out of money and stopped work. In December 1888 Scientific American quoted the New York Times: “In the history of visionary undertakings and financial bubbles there are few things comparable to this old man's canal at Panama.”  [Less] [Link to this slide]

A surveyor’s camp in the forests of Panama:

By the time the first shovel full of mud was moved, several teams of surveyors had been at work for two years, making maps. The maps helped to figure out the best and easiest route for the canal....[More]

A surveyor’s camp in the forests of Panama:

By the time the first shovel full of mud was moved, several teams of surveyors had been at work for two years, making maps. The maps helped to figure out the best and easiest route for the canal.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Bird’s-eye view of the de Lesseps plan, 1881:

De Lesseps wanted to dig a canal that was at the same level as the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Digging a canal at that level would have meant digging down all the way through it and more, enough to leave room for a deep enough canal for big ships....[More]

Bird’s-eye view of the de Lesseps plan, 1881:

De Lesseps wanted to dig a canal that was at the same level as the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Digging a canal at that level would have meant digging down all the way through it and more, enough to leave room for a deep enough canal for big ships. When the French started digging, in 1881, this is the canal they thought they were going to build.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

The “Hercules” dredger:

Big jobs needed big machines. This machine is a dredge. It floats on the river and digs up mud from the bottom of the river and dumps it on the side of the river....[More]

The “Hercules” dredger:

Big jobs needed big machines. This machine is a dredge. It floats on the river and digs up mud from the bottom of the river and dumps it on the side of the river. The dredges travelled along the shallow rivers and made them deep enough for big cargo ships.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

An excavator working on the Panama Canal, 1884:

This huge steam-powered excavator floated on a barge in the river. It would drag up mud from the bottom of the river and throw it off to the side....[More]

An excavator working on the Panama Canal, 1884:

This huge steam-powered excavator floated on a barge in the river. It would drag up mud from the bottom of the river and throw it off to the side. Its job was to make the shallow river deeper for bigger ships.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Big digging machines working on the Panama Canal, 1884:

These large machines worked on digging dirt and rocks from the ground in Panama, making a space for the canal. They were operated by steam engines and moved a lot of dirt....[More]

Big digging machines working on the Panama Canal, 1884:

These large machines worked on digging dirt and rocks from the ground in Panama, making a space for the canal. They were operated by steam engines and moved a lot of dirt. They travelled on railway tracks that were put down just for them. The dirt was taken away in railway cars, and dumped far from the digging site.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

The San Pablo section of the Panama Canal, 1888:

Work went on over different parts of the canal at the same time. Here, small rail lines were laid and carts were pushed right up to where dirt was being dug....[More]

The San Pablo section of the Panama Canal, 1888:

Work went on over different parts of the canal at the same time. Here, small rail lines were laid and carts were pushed right up to where dirt was being dug. Workers with shovels would fill the carts and they would be taken away. The progress on the canal was measured in how many cubic yards of dirt came out of the ground or the river beds.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Digging through the Culebra Mountain, 1888:

The biggest challenge to building the Panama Canal was digging through the Culebra hill. It was only 333 feet high, which isn’t so high to walk up, but it was very difficult to cut a big valley through it....[More]

Digging through the Culebra Mountain, 1888:

The biggest challenge to building the Panama Canal was digging through the Culebra hill. It was only 333 feet high, which isn’t so high to walk up, but it was very difficult to cut a big valley through it. They couldn’t just dig straight down, because the sides kept falling in, so the workers had to keep digging out the sides. It was a huge job. You can see how many different engines are working on the Culebra Cut and the hill in the background. They are either digging or moving the dirt out of the site.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

An idea to move ships by trains, 1884:

By 1884 the work on the Panama canal was more difficult and costing more money than anyone had thought. Some engineers thought it would be cheaper and easier to put ships on really big trains....[More]

An idea to move ships by trains, 1884:

By 1884 the work on the Panama canal was more difficult and costing more money than anyone had thought. Some engineers thought it would be cheaper and easier to put ships on really big trains. Then you could use giant engines to pull them across the land on railways. The problem was that ships were getting bigger and bigger. The cargo ship in the picture might weigh 5,000 tons. A ship of today might be ten times as big, too big even for a really big train. So the railway was never built.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Lock gate designed by Gustav Eiffel:

By 1894 the French realized the canal would be easier to build if they used “locks” on the canal. That way the waterway could go over the hills instead of through them....[More]

Lock gate designed by Gustav Eiffel:

By 1894 the French realized the canal would be easier to build if they used “locks” on the canal. That way the waterway could go over the hills instead of through them. Locks are a smaller part of the canal that has gates at both ends. In this smaller part of the canal you can raise or lower the level of water. When the water goes up or down, the ships floating in the water go up or down with the water level. Gustav Eiffel, the famous engineer who had built the Eiffel Tower in Paris, designed the huge lock gates in 1888. He wanted to use big sliding doors, but swinging doors were used instead. However, the new set of locks being built now to open in 2014 to fit even bigger ships uses sliding doors.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

“The two shovels,” 1912:

The United States government bought the French company in 1904 and took over the work of digging the Panama Canal. “Make the dirt fly” said Teddy Roosevelt, the president of the U.S....[More]

“The two shovels,” 1912:

The United States government bought the French company in 1904 and took over the work of digging the Panama Canal. “Make the dirt fly” said Teddy Roosevelt, the president of the U.S. at the time. He wanted to finish off the job as fast as possible. Some people said the work on the Panama Canal was “The World’s Greatest Engineering Work.”  [Less] [Link to this slide]

The map shows the three sets of locks at each end of the canal.

Landslides in the Panama Canal, 1912:

The Culebra Cut, the part of the canal that went through the hills of Panama, was the toughest part of digging the canal. The biggest problem was that the sides of the hills kept sliding down (they’re still sliding today, only a lot more slowly)....[More]

Landslides in the Panama Canal, 1912:

The Culebra Cut, the part of the canal that went through the hills of Panama, was the toughest part of digging the canal. The biggest problem was that the sides of the hills kept sliding down (they’re still sliding today, only a lot more slowly). On August 20th, 1912, 400,000 cubic yards of dirt and rock slipped down into the bottom of the valley, destroying railways, engines, digging machinery, and generally making a huge mess. The dotted white line shows the outline where the side of the hill slipped down.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

As the Panama Canal was being dug, the gigantic locks were being poured out of concrete.

A view of how the Gatun Locks should look, 1912:

The Panama Canal has six sets of locks. The three locks at Gatun, when finished, lifted ships a total of 85 feet up or down while they were sitting in the canal water--that’s about the height of an 8-story building....[More]

A view of how the Gatun Locks should look, 1912:

The Panama Canal has six sets of locks. The three locks at Gatun, when finished, lifted ships a total of 85 feet up or down while they were sitting in the canal water--that’s about the height of an 8-story building. Each lock is over 1,000 feet long and over 100 feet wide. The size limit for the biggest ships that can fit in the locks is called Panamax. The old locks are not big enough for some of today’s giant cargo ships, so even bigger locks are being built, and they will open in 2014.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

The Gatun Locks, looking south to lake Gatun, 1920:

The Gatun Locks on the Panama Canal raise or lower ships 85 feet in three stages. In theory, two sets were built to allow simultaneous traffic in two directions, but in reality some sections of the canal are too narrow for ships to pass in opposite directions, so traffic tends to be one way in two lanes....[More]

The Gatun Locks, looking south to lake Gatun, 1920:

The Gatun Locks on the Panama Canal raise or lower ships 85 feet in three stages. In theory, two sets were built to allow simultaneous traffic in two directions, but in reality some sections of the canal are too narrow for ships to pass in opposite directions, so traffic tends to be one way in two lanes.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

The Pedro Miguel locks being built, 1912:

The Panama Canal locks at Pedro Miguel are almost finished here. At the left are the giant lock gates--some gates on the canal locks are 82 feet high....[More]

The Pedro Miguel locks being built, 1912:

The Panama Canal locks at Pedro Miguel are almost finished here. At the left are the giant lock gates--some gates on the canal locks are 82 feet high. The tunnel at the right in the bottom of the wall is a “culvert.” Water flows into and out of the culvert to raise or lower the level of water in the lock. Up to 26 million gallons of water are used every time ships are raised or lowered.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Panama Canal, housing for the workers, 1912:

At one point, almost 40,000 people were working on building the canal. The big challenge was keeping these workers healthy. In the early years of work on the canal, thousands of workers had died of various diseases, so much thought was given to making sure the towns built for the workers were clean, had proper sewage, and screens over the windows to keep mosquitoes away....[More]

Panama Canal, housing for the workers, 1912:

At one point, almost 40,000 people were working on building the canal. The big challenge was keeping these workers healthy. In the early years of work on the canal, thousands of workers had died of various diseases, so much thought was given to making sure the towns built for the workers were clean, had proper sewage, and screens over the windows to keep mosquitoes away.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Spraying to kill mosquitoes, Panama Canal, 1912:

Many people died from malaria and yellow fever in the early years of the canal construction. When the Americans took over the work on the canal in 1904, one of the main efforts had nothing to do with digging and everything to do with keeping the workers healthy....[More]

Spraying to kill mosquitoes, Panama Canal, 1912:

Many people died from malaria and yellow fever in the early years of the canal construction. When the Americans took over the work on the canal in 1904, one of the main efforts had nothing to do with digging and everything to do with keeping the workers healthy. The worst diseases were all spread by mosquito, so a lot of work was done to kill mosquitoes. This man has a tank of oil on his back and he is spraying it into ditches to kill mosquitoes.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Amount of work done on the Panama Canal, 1912:

By the time the canal was finished, 268 million cubic yards of dirt and rock had been taken out of the ground or dredged from lakes. This amount of material was so huge that it could have made 63 pyramids the size of the Great Pyramid of Egypt....[More]

Amount of work done on the Panama Canal, 1912:

By the time the canal was finished, 268 million cubic yards of dirt and rock had been taken out of the ground or dredged from lakes. This amount of material was so huge that it could have made 63 pyramids the size of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. It was so hard to imagine this amount of material that Scientific American showed what it would look like if 63 pyramids of that size were piled up along the island of Manhattan.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

USS Ohio in the Panama Canal, 1915:

A year after the canal opened in 1914, this battleship steamed through from the Atlantic to the Pacific on its way to San Francisco. The ship was about 400 feet long, so it was fairly small compared with most battleships....[More]

USS Ohio in the Panama Canal, 1915:

A year after the canal opened in 1914, this battleship steamed through from the Atlantic to the Pacific on its way to San Francisco. The ship was about 400 feet long, so it was fairly small compared with most battleships. But you can see how it still looks very large in the narrow canal. Ships have made almost a million trips through the canal, most of them cargo ships, and some battleships and tourist ships.  [Less] [Link to this slide]