Ryan, Lim Lei, Bryan, William

G7 Ivory

16/04/2015

The Panama Canal

Geography Coursework - Trimester Three
The Panama Canal is an important link between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean,
stretching for about 77 kilometres. Its construction, started by French under Ferdinand de Lesseps
in 1881 but abandoned in 1889, was completed by the Americans between 1904 and 1914.
Panama is situated on the Isthmus of Panama, a narrow strip of land connecting the North and
South American continents. It has a hot, humid environment as it is near the equator. There are
dense jungles that cover the entire isthmus, causing difficult navigation through the country without
proper roads. Panama is also at the southern-west point of the Caribbean Sea. This creates a
tropical environment, which contributes to its hot and humid climate. Panama is mainly at sea-level
(low elevation). Closer inland, there are mountainous areas with dense jungles are havens for
snakes, tropical trees and plants as well as a large variety of insects; the most noticeable are
mosquitoes. The Panamanian landform is important to the Panama Canal because of its narrow
width. This was an important factor as to why Panama became an attractive area for the building of
the canal. Ships had to navigate
around the tip of South America
to get to Europe or the Pacific.
This proved a major obstacle as
it consumed a lot of money and
time. Thus, the Panama Canal
was constructed to tackle this
problem. At its narrowest length
of 77 kilometres, the route taken
by the Panama Canal is a major
short-cut compared to the
12,875 kilometre journey around
the tip of South America.
Panamas geographic position
and isthmus-type land are the
two major reasons why a link
was built here.
The climate of Panama is hot,
tropical and humid. It is a
mountainous area as well. The
weather of Panama can vary
from vast sunshine to low-lying
fog and heavy humidity. The
tropical climate affects the
weather by creating a humid
environment with heavy
precipitation. Construction was
difficult because of the harsh terrain, with vast jungles and mountains in the way. There were also
large numbers of yellow-fever cases, caused by mosquitoes and little protection of workers. The
climate and weather affected the building of the canal in many ways. For example, the annual rainy
season caused flooding during construction of the French canal. This destroyed equipment and
also caused many landslides, resulting in a major setback for the construction and also
killing many workers. The climate also was very harsh under extremely high
temperatures and tropical environments.

Ryan, Lim Lei, Bryan, William

G7 Ivory

16/04/2015

The Panama Canals construction faced major setbacks such as the dense jungle in between the
Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, mountains and diseases. To tackle these obstacles,
engineers used vast amounts of dynamite to blast rock away. The technology of the time was not
nearly as sophisticated as today. At the time, there were no computers, laser-guided equipment,
tunnel-boring machines nor medications to treat diseases encountered. Instead, engineers used
steal-shovels, zip-lines, rock drills and man power. After the at-first unbelievable discovery that
mosquitoes caused yellow-fever, massive sanitary campaigns were carried out in the area before
construction began. Houses were checked of rust, mosquito spray was used to kill mosquito larvae
and mosquito screens were installed. These efforts proved effective and vital to the construction of
the canal. The Americans decided to construct a lock-type canal instead of the French sea-level
canal. This eliminated the problems of levelling terrain and saved both time, money and resources.
The way this works is that ships enter an open lock, the locks close, water rushes in and the waterlevel rises to the level of another lock and this process repeats until the desired level is reached.
Today, computers are used to control the canal, adding an extra measure of safety. The locks are
still operational and the guide-cars along the sides of the canal are still used to help guide the
canal. However, as ships get larger, the canal is increasingly unable to handle the large, mega
ships of today. The concept of rising and lowering ships using the lock-technology is still being
used in today.
The environment at the
canal has changed in many ways.
For example, the landscape has
changed. During the construction
of the canal, many trees and
mountains had to be destroyed in
order to build the canal. Also,
damming the lake at Gatun has
made a new lake, now called
Gatun Lake. This has flooded
many areas full of vegetation and
also forced residents of the area to
move away. The area around the
Panama Canal is now very busy
with many ships travelling through
the area. This has lead to pollution
of the waters and air in the area.
The felling of trees has also caused
deforestation, destroying many habitats for animals. The environment had to be modified in order
to build the canal because of obstacles in the way such as mountains, forests and rivers. These
had to be destroyed. Deforestation was essential as it proved a major obstacle in the construction.
Trees and other vegetation in the way had to be cut down. Rivers and lakes had to be destroyed
and created. Otherwise, flooded. Mountains in the way were initially dynamited to remove them
and create a sea-level canal under the French but when the Americans came, they decided to build
a lock-type canal.
END OF PAPER