The Panama Canal - early plans

The dream of digging a water passage across the Isthmus of Panama uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans dates to the early 16th century, and can be traced to the 1513 Isthmian crossing of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.

He discovered that only a narrow strip of land separated the two oceans. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was also Charles I of Spain, initiated a movement to build a passage across the Isthmus.

By decree, issued in 1534, Charles ordered the Panama regional governor to survey a route to the Pacific following the Chagres River. This was the first survey for a proposed ship canal through Panama, and it more or less followed the course of the current Panama Canal. At the time the survey was completed, it was the governor's opinion that it would be impossible for anyone to accomplish such a feat.

The next attempt to build a crossing of the isthmus was actually a railway. The Panama Railroad was started in May 1850 and completed in 1855.

However, an all-water route between the oceans was still seen as the ideal solution, and the idea of a canal was enhanced by the success of the Suez Canal. The French, under Ferdinand de Lesseps, began construction on a sea-level canal - without locks - through what was then Colombia's province of Panama, on January 1, 1880.

Insufficient study

The French effort was to be badly let down by insufficient study of the geology and hydrology of the region. Among other problems, the sea level on the Caribbean side of Panama is lower than on the Pacific side.

In addition, disease, particularly malaria and yellow fever, killed huge numbers of employees. Much of the French health measures were ineffective because the role of the mosquito as a disease vector was then unknown.

These conditions made it impossible to maintain an experienced work force as many technical employees quickly returned to France. Even the hospitals contributed to the problem, unwittingly providing breeding places for mosquitoes inside the unscreened wards.

The actual work conditions were hushed-up in by Monsieur de Lesseps to avoid recruitment problems. In 1893, after a great deal of work, the French scheme was finally abandoned. The high toll from disease was one of the major factors in the failure. It is thought that as many as 22000 workers died during the main period of French construction (1881-1889).

US interest in a canal to join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Central American Isthmus, not necessarily at Panama, awakened relatively late. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 created a tremendous volume of trans-isthmian business, mostly overland using the Panama Railroad, and interest in a canal was heightened.

The inauguration in 1869 of Ulysses S. Grant as the 18th US president brought new impetus to US canal policy. President Grant's personal interest went back to July 1852, when, as an Army captain, he led the American 4th Infantry across the Isthmus of Panama en route to garrison duty in California.

The military detachment of several hundred men, together with their dependents, became victims of a raging cholera epidemic in Panama that claimed the lives of 150 men, women and children. President Grant later wrote of the tragic incident, "The horrors of the road in the rainy season are beyond description."

Survey expeditions

In 1869, President Grant ordered several survey expeditions to Central America. The expeditions were organized by Navigation Bureau Chief Commodore Daniel Ammen and were under the command of the Secretary of the Navy.

Surveys were conducted in Tehuantepec, Mexico, by Captain Robert W. Shufeldt; in Darien by Commander Thomas Oliver Selfridge; in Nicaragua by Commander Chester Hatfield, Commander Edward P. Lull and Chief Civil Engineer Aniceto G. Menocal; and in Panama along the railroad line by Commander Edward P. Lull; and Cuban-born Aniceto Garcia Menocal, of the Corps of Engineers, US Navy. The route of the current Panama Canal is nearly identical to that proposed by this Panama survey.

An Inter-Oceanic Canal Commission was appointed by President Grant to evaluate the findings resulting from these Navy expeditions that took place between 1870 and 1875. A report was prepared by the Commission and, following due consideration, the Commission, in 1876, came out in favour of the Nicaragua route.

The US Isthmian Canal Commission of 1899-1901, usually referred to as the second Walker Commission, after its president, Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, was, following failure of the French canal effort, ordered to again study all routes feasible to constructing a water route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The study was ordered by US President William McKinley, who succeeded President Grant. This time, the Panama and Nicaragua routes were to receive special consideration. The Nicaragua route again came out as the favored choice, but not for long.

Panama Canal Authority (ACP).