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Panama Canal
built 656 days ago
By August 15, 1914 the Panama Canal was officially opened by the passing of the SS Ancon. At the time, no single effort in American history had exacted such a price in dollars or in human life. The American expenditures from 1904 to 1914 totaled $352,000,000, far more than the cost of anything built by the United States Government up to that time. Together the French and American expenditures totaled $639,000,000. It took 34 years from the initial effort in 1880 to actually open the Canal in 1914. It is estimated that over 80,000 persons took part in the construction and that over 30,000 lives were lost in both French and American efforts.
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Lépinay's conception eventually established him as an architectural and engineering genius and as the originator of the plan from which the Panama Canal was built. Unfortunately for the French... his idea was ignored at the time, and the Compagnie Universelle embarked on its ill-fated undertaking. Lesseps was unfamiliar with conditions in Panama or was unwilling to acknowledge that they were vastly different from Suez. Unlike the arid desert of the Isthmus of Suez, Panama was a tropical jungle, with diluvial rains, debilitating heat and humidity, and tropical diseases. Topographic conditions along the proposed route varied considerably and ranged from coastal marshes to the mountains of the Continental Divide. Despite competent engineering, there was no sound overall plan.
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The Panama Canal has six locks, three near either end. From the Pacific Ocean, near Panama City, the Miraflores Locks' two chambers each raise vessels 27 feet. A short distance away, the Pedro Miguel Lock lifts shipping a further 31 feet. Most of the passage through the canal is at 85 feet above sea level.
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The Panama Canal has a length of 51 miles (82km). The passage takes 8 to 10 hours and must be done with pilot support and Panamese mooring people on the ships. The canal shortens the seaway round Cape Horn by 8000 nautical miles (15,000km).
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The Panama Canal extends approximately 80 km. (50 miles) from Panama City on the Pacific Ocean to Colon on the Caribbean Sea. It is widely considered to be one of the world's great engineering achievements. The United States is the largest user of the Canal in terms of cargo tonnage, as either port of origin or destination, although Asian countries are beginning to close the gap. About 12% of U.S. sea-borne international trade, in terms of tonnage, passes through the Canal annually. Ships bound for Japan from the East Coast of the United States save about 3,000 miles by going through the Canal; ships sailing from Ecuador to Europe save about 5,000 miles.
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Panama, Oct 22 (Prensa Latina) The enlargement of the Panama Canal must generate some 42,000 jobs, according to official statistics, although only 300 employments have been created so far. A report published in the newspaper La Prensa says that according to estimates by the administrating authority, four or five indirect jobs will be created per every direct employment. The study adds that more than 1,500 jobs will be created in 2007 and 2007 to enlarge the Panama Canal. The first 300 new jobs are dry excavation contracts started by the firm Constructora Urbana S.A. on September 3. A year after the enlargement works were approved in a popular referendum, Canal Administrator Alberto Aleman is satisfied with results.
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