The Panama Canal: History and Geopolitics

• US Construction
• Innovation of locks
• powered hydroelectrically
• Steam shovel and modern equipment
• Antibiotic pesticides, disease prevention
• Construction costs in modern dollars: $8.6b

Location

• Absolute Location: 9.0800° N, 79.6800° W
• Runs NNW-SSE
• Sometimes cited as the divide between N. and S. America
• Saves ~12,875km of sailing
• Canal is ~77km in length

Panama Canal Expansion Project

• To be completed by 2014
• Involves two new locks, one on the Pacific side and one on the Atlantic side
• Will permit 160ft wide ships, versus the previous 106.

• Why expand?
• Rising traffic of international shipping
• Traffic bottleneck at single locks
• Average of 54,000 USD per passage
• Influx into local economy
• ~14,000 Ships pass through each year

Geopolitics

US acquisition of the Canal Zone

• Hay-Herrán Treaty
• January 22, 1903
• Gunboat Diplomacy
• USS Nashville, fully armed
• Bribery of Colombian soldiers ($50)
• Panamanian Independence
• November 3, 1903
• Imposition of Constitution

Historical Importance

Panama Canal:

• Panama part of Spanish Empire from 1513-1821
• Isthmus of Panama of crucial importance in trade and shipping
• Several overland routes were established across the isthmus
• "El Camino Real"

• Efficiency of Water transport over Overland Transportation
• Maintenance of infrastructure, efficieny of transport, etc.

History, Construction and Geopolitics

Attempts at Construction

• French attempt
• Ferdinand de Lesseps in charge of construction
• Attempted in wake of Suez Canal in 1869
• Flat, sandy location
• Panama canal route peaks ~110m
• 22,000 deaths and $287M later?
• FAILURE!