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109-564: The upper Chagres River, its watershed , and the watershed of several tributaries lie within the Chagres National Park , created in 1985 to preserve the habitat and flow of water into the canal. The terrain of the upper Chagres watershed is rugged, with its mountain slopes exceeding 45 degrees in 90 percent of its territory. Some 98 percent of the park consists of old-growth tropical forest. The upper Chagres and its seven tributaries flow into Lake Alajuela (formerly Madden Lake),

218-795: A canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a canal across Nicaragua and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama. Bunau-Varilla , who was seeking American involvement, asked for $ 100 million, but accepted $ 40 million in the face of the Nicaraguan option. In June 1902, the US Senate voted in favor of the Spooner Act , to pursue the Panamanian option, provided the necessary rights could be obtained. On 22 January 1903,

327-715: A canal. Numerous canals were built in other countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The success of the Erie Canal through central New York in the United States in the 1820s and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America resulted in growing American interest in building an inter-oceanic canal. Beginning in 1826, US officials began negotiations with Gran Colombia (present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama), hoping to gain

436-533: A concession to build a canal. Jealous of their newly gained independence and fearing domination by the more powerful United States, president Simón Bolívar and New Granada officials declined American offers. After the collapse of Gran Colombia, New Granada remained unstable under constant government intrigue. Great Britain attempted to develop a canal in 1843. According to the New-York Daily Tribune , 24 August 1843, Barings Bank of London and

545-454: A drainage basin, and there are different ways to interpret that data. In the unlikely event that the gauges are many and evenly distributed over an area of uniform precipitation, using the arithmetic mean method will give good results. In the Thiessen polygon method, the drainage basin is divided into polygons with the rain gauge in the middle of each polygon assumed to be representative for

654-540: A drainage boundary is referred to as watershed delineation . Finding the area and extent of a drainage basin is an important step in many areas of science and engineering. Most of the water that discharges from the basin outlet originated as precipitation falling on the basin. A portion of the water that enters the groundwater system beneath the drainage basin may flow towards the outlet of another drainage basin because groundwater flow directions do not always match those of their overlying drainage network. Measurement of

763-426: A point where surface water is lost underground . Drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units , which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system . Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks. In a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. About 48.71% of

872-622: A sea-level canal (like the Suez), but he visited the site only a few times, during the dry season which lasts only four months of the year. His men were unprepared for the rainy season, during which the Chagres River , where the canal started, became a raging torrent, rising up to 10 m (33 ft). The dense jungle was alive with venomous snakes, insects, and spiders, but the worst challenges were yellow fever , malaria , and other tropical diseases, which killed thousands of workers; by 1884,

981-593: A sea-level canal, as had been attempted by the French and temporarily abandoned by them in 1887 for a ten locks system designed by Philippe Bunau-Varilla, and definitively in 1898 for a lock-and-lake canal designed by the Comité Technique of the Compagnie Nouvelle de Canal de Panama as conceptualized by Adolphe Godin de Lépinay in 1879. But in 1906 Stevens, who had seen the Chagres in full flood,

1090-715: A self-educated engineer who had built the Great Northern Railroad . Stevens was not a member of the ICC; he increasingly viewed its bureaucracy as a serious hindrance, bypassing the commission and sending requests and demands directly to the Roosevelt administration in Washington, DC. One of Stevens' first achievements in Panama was in building and rebuilding the housing, cafeterias, hotels, water systems, repair shops, warehouses, and other infrastructure needed by

1199-666: A settlement began and resulted in the Torrijos–Carter Treaties . On 7 September 1977, the treaty was signed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos , de facto leader of Panama. This mobilized the process of granting the Panamanians free control of the canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the canal. The treaty led to full Panamanian control effective at noon on 31 December 1999, and

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1308-428: A succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills . A basin may consist of smaller basins that merge at river confluences , forming a hierarchical pattern . Other terms for a drainage basin are catchment area , catchment basin , drainage area , river basin , water basin , and impluvium . In North America, they are commonly called a watershed , though in other English-speaking places, "watershed"

1417-594: A treaty, in the name of the Société civile internationale du Canal interocéanique par l'isthme du Darien headed by general Étienne Türr, with the Colombian government, known as the Wyse concession, to build an interoceanic canal through Panama. The first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia's province of Panama began on 1 January 1881. The project was inspired by the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps , who

1526-487: Is referred to as " watershed management ". In Brazil , the National Policy of Water Resources, regulated by Act n° 9.433 of 1997, establishes the drainage basin as the territorial division of Brazilian water management. When a river basin crosses at least one political border, either a border within a nation or an international boundary, it is identified as a transboundary river . Management of such basins becomes

1635-402: Is sometimes misinterpreted as the "99-year lease" because of misleading wording included in article 22 of the agreement. Almost immediately, the treaty was condemned by many Panamanians as an infringement on their country's new national sovereignty. This would later become a contentious diplomatic issue among Colombia, Panama, and the United States. President Roosevelt famously stated, "I took

1744-614: Is the Dead Sea . Drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important. For example, the English crown gave the Hudson's Bay Company a monopoly on the fur trade in the entire Hudson Bay basin, an area called Rupert's Land . Bioregional political organization today includes agreements of states (e.g., international treaties and, within

1853-633: Is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts. The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage , the Strait of Magellan or the Beagle Channel . It is one of

1962-404: Is used only in its original sense, that of the drainage divide line. A drainage basin's boundaries are determined by watershed delineation , a common task in environmental engineering and science. In a closed drainage basin, or endorheic basin , rather than flowing to the ocean, water converges toward the interior of the basin, known as a sink , which may be a permanent lake, a dry lake , or

2071-713: The African Great Lakes , the interiors of Australia and the Arabian Peninsula , and parts in Mexico and the Andes . Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, adjacent closed basins. In endorheic bodies of water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this

2180-702: The Amazon , Rio Negro , and Orinoco River basins of South America, where they are called Tucanare or Pavon and are considered a premier game fish. Since 1958, the Cichla pleiozona species has flourished and become the dominant game fish in Gatun Lake. It hits topwater lures, subsurface lures imitating bait fish, and a variety of fly patterns, and when hooked they fight energetically. They are unusual for preferring to feed during daylight hours. The Spanish commander Diego Cueto and his helmsman, Pedro de Umbria, visited

2289-765: The Continental Divide , northern Alaska and parts of North Dakota , South Dakota , Minnesota , and Montana in the United States, the north shore of the Scandinavian peninsula in Europe, central and northern Russia, and parts of Kazakhstan and Mongolia in Asia , which totals to about 17% of the world's land. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean . Its basin includes much of China, eastern and southeastern Russia, Japan,

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2398-546: The Culebra Cut , valued at about $ 1.00 per cubic yard. The United States also paid the new country of Panama $ 10 million and a $ 250,000 payment each following year. In 1921, Colombia and the United States entered into the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty , in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia $ 25 million: $ 5 million upon ratification, and four $ 5 million annual payments, and grant Colombia special privileges in

2507-760: The Hay–Herrán Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Colombian Chargé Tomás Herrán . For $ 10 million and an annual payment, it would have granted the United States a renewable lease in perpetuity from Colombia on the land proposed for the canal. The treaty was ratified by the US Senate on 14 March 1903, but the Senate of Colombia unanimously rejected the treaty since it had become significantly unpopular in Bogotá due to concerns over insufficient compensation, threat to sovereignty, and perpetuity. Roosevelt changed tactics, based in part on

2616-617: The Illinois Central Railroad , as chief engineer of the Panama Canal Project. Overwhelmed by the disease-plagued country and forced to use often dilapidated French infrastructure and equipment, as well as being frustrated by the overly bureaucratic ICC, Wallace resigned abruptly in June 1905. The ICC brought on a new chairman, Theodore P. Shonts , and a new chief engineer was appointed, John Frank Stevens ,

2725-492: The Isthmus of Panama , and is a conduit for maritime trade. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake , an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level , created by damming up the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200,000,000 L (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water

2834-714: The Korean Peninsula , most of Indochina, Indonesia and Malaysia, the Philippines, all of the Pacific Islands , the northeast coast of Australia , and Canada and the United States west of the Continental Divide (including most of Alaska), as well as western Central America and South America west of the Andes. The Indian Ocean 's drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earth's land. It drains

2943-589: The Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty of 1846, and actively supported the separation of Panama from Colombia . Shortly after recognizing Panama, he signed a treaty with the new Panamanian government under terms similar to the Hay–Herrán Treaty. On 2 November 1903, US warships blocked sea lanes against possible Colombian troop movements en route to put down the Panama rebellion. Panama declared independence on 3 November 1903. The United States quickly recognized

3052-591: The Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty , negotiated between the US and New Granada, granted the United States transit rights and the right to intervene militarily in the isthmus. In 1848, the discovery of gold in California , on the West Coast of the United States, generated renewed interest in a canal crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. William Henry Aspinwall , who had won the federal subsidy to build and operate

3161-546: The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) assumed command of the waterway. The Panama Canal remains one of the chief revenue sources for Panama. Before this handover, the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25-year contract for operation of the container shipping ports located at the canal's Atlantic and Pacific outlets. The contract was not affiliated with the ACP or Panama Canal operations and

3270-530: The Republic of New Granada entered into a contract for the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien (Isthmus of Panama). They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal, and it was a wholly British endeavor. Projected for completion in five years, the plan was never carried out. At nearly the same time, other ideas were floated, including a canal (and/or a railroad) across Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec . That did not develop, either. In 1846,

3379-547: The cargo ship SS  Ancon . The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 caused a severe drop in traffic along Chilean ports due to shifts in maritime trade routes, despite the closure of the canal for nearly seven months after a landslide in the Culebra Cut on 18 September 1915. The burgeoning sheep farming business in southern Patagonia suffered a significant setback by the change in trade routes, as did

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3488-529: The groundwater . A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. Panama Canal The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá ) is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean , cutting across

3597-792: The 30 million cu yd (23 million m ) excavated by the French. As quickly as possible, the Americans replaced or upgraded the old, unusable French equipment with new construction equipment that was designed for a much larger and faster scale of work. 102 large, railroad-mounted steam shovels were purchased, 77 from Bucyrus-Erie , and 25 from the Marion Power Shovel Company . These were joined by enormous steam-powered cranes, giant hydraulic rock crushers , concrete mixers , dredges , and pneumatic power drills, nearly all of which were manufactured by new, extensive machine-building technology developed and built in

3706-726: The Americas in order to ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru. The Spanish were seeking to gain a military advantage over the Portuguese. In 1668, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne speculated in his encyclopedic work, Pseudodoxia Epidemica , that "some Isthmus have been eaten through by the Sea, and others cut by the spade: And if the policy would permit, that of Panama in America were most worthy

3815-551: The Atlantic Forest Corridor. Eco-tourism on Gatun Lake has become a valuable industry for Panamanians. Angling is one of the primary recreational pursuits on Gatun Lake. It is believed that the Cichla pleiozona species of peacock bass was introduced by accident to Gatun Lake by a Panamanian aquarist and doctor in 1958. Locally called Sargento, these bass are not a native game fish of Panama but originate from

3924-537: The Canal Zone. In return, Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation. The US formally took control of the canal property on 4 May 1904, inheriting from the French a depleted workforce and a vast jumble of buildings, infrastructure, and equipment, much of it in poor condition. A US government commission, the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC), was established to oversee construction; it

4033-492: The Chagres River above Gatun Lake. Completed in 1935, the dam created Madden Lake (later Alajuela Lake), which provides additional water storage for the canal. In 1939, construction began on a further major improvement: a new set of locks large enough to carry the larger warships that the United States was building at the time and planned to continue building. The work proceeded for several years, and significant excavation

4142-530: The Chagres River to attack Panama City in 1670–71 . Not much attention was focused on the river until the late 19th century, this time as part of the planning for construction of the Panama Canal . The Chagres River is the Panama Canal's chief source of water. The river's upper basin is covered by dense tropical forests. To protect that ecosystem, Panama created Chagres National Park in 1985. In 2000, bulk carrier "Bluebill" struck railway bridge crossing

4251-435: The Chagres River, near Gamboa, severely damaging bridge and severing rail route about midway between two terminals. Drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth , or flows into another body of water , such as a lake or ocean . A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the drainage divide , made up of

4360-600: The Colombians being unable to put down the Panamanian rebellion and expel the United States troops occupying what today is the independent nation of Panama. On 6 November 1903, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, as Panama's ambassador to the United States, signed the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty , granting rights to the United States to build and indefinitely administer the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses. This

4469-489: The French manager of the New Panama Canal Company, eventually managed to persuade Lesseps that a lock-and-lake canal was more realistic than a sea-level canal. The Comité Technique, a high level technical committee, was formed by the Compagnie Nouvelle to review the studies and work—that already finished and that still ongoing—and come up with the best plan for completing the canal. The committee arrived on

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4578-645: The Isthmus in February 1896 and went immediately, quietly and efficiently about their work of devising the best possible canal plan, which they presented on 16 November 1898. Many aspects of the plan were similar in principle to the canal that was finally built by the Americans in 1914. It was a lock canal with two high level lakes to lift ships up and over the Continental Divide. Double locks would be 738 feet long and about 30 feet deep (225 m × 9 m); one chamber of each pair would be 82 feet (25 m) wide,

4687-407: The Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia: The New York Times described the support given by the United States to Bunau-Varilla as an "act of sordid conquest". The New York Evening Post called it a "vulgar and mercenary venture". The US maneuvers are often cited as

4796-462: The Pacific Ocean, permitting ship transit in both directions. The lake is essential to the canal's water supply, as it provides the millions of gallons of water at the high level needed for the locks to function correctly. The lake is also part of the navigational canal and provides drinking water for Panama City and Colon. At the time it was formed, Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in

4905-570: The Pacific mail steamships at around the same time, benefited from the gold discovery. Aspinwall's route included steamship legs from New York City to Panama, and from Panama to California, with an overland portage through Panama. This route with an overland leg in Panama was soon frequently traveled, as it provided one of the fastest connections between San Francisco, California, and the East Coast cities, about 40 days' transit in total. Nearly all

5014-521: The Pacific side is about a third of a degree east of the Colón end on the Atlantic side. Still, in formal nautical communications, the simplified directions "southbound" and "northbound" are used. The canal consists of artificial lakes , several improved and artificial channels, and three sets of locks . An additional artificial lake, Alajuela Lake (known during the American era as Madden Lake), acts as

5123-483: The Panama Railway) to cross the isthmus; it opened in 1855. This overland link became a vital piece of Western Hemisphere infrastructure, greatly facilitating trade. The later canal route was constructed parallel to it, as it had helped clear dense forests. An all-water route between the oceans was still the goal. In 1855, William Kennish , a Manx -born engineer working for the United States government, surveyed

5232-400: The US army troops that were supporting the Panamanian rebels. The reason an army of conscripts was sent was that it was the best response the Colombians could muster, as Colombia still was recovering from a civil war between Liberals and Conservatives from October 1899, to November 1902, known as the " Thousand Days War ". The US was fully aware of these conditions and even incorporated them into

5341-417: The US, interstate compacts ) or other political entities in a particular drainage basin to manage the body or bodies of water into which it drains. Examples of such interstate compacts are the Great Lakes Commission and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency . In hydrology , the drainage basin is a logical unit of focus for studying the movement of water within the hydrological cycle . The process of finding

5450-483: The United States to hand over the canal to Panama increased after the Suez Crisis in 1956, when the United States used financial and diplomatic pressure to force France and the UK to abandon their attempt to retake control of the Suez Canal , previously nationalized by the Nasser regime in Egypt. Panamanian unrest culminated in riots on Martyr's Day , 9 January 1964, when about 20 Panamanians and 3–5 US soldiers were killed. A decade later, in 1974, negotiations toward

5559-496: The United States. The railroad also had to be comprehensively upgraded with heavy-duty, double-tracked rails over most of the line to accommodate new rolling stock . In many places, the new Gatun Lake flooded over the original rail line, and a new line had to be constructed above Gatun Lake's waterline. Between 1912 and 1914 there was a controversy about the tolls for the canal . In 1907, Stevens resigned as chief engineer. His replacement, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt,

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5668-457: The attempt: it being but few miles over, and would open a shorter cut unto the East Indies and China". Given the strategic location of Panama, and the potential of its narrow isthmus separating two great oceans, other trade links in the area were attempted over the years. One early example of this was ill-fated Darien scheme , launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up an overland trade route. Generally inhospitable conditions thwarted

5777-406: The basin, it can form tributaries that change the structure of the land. There are three different main types, which are affected by the rocks and ground underneath. Rock that is quick to erode forms dendritic patterns, and these are seen most often. The two other types of patterns that form are trellis patterns and rectangular patterns. Rain gauge data is used to measure total precipitation over

5886-448: The canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the Panamanian government took control in 1999. It is now managed and operated by the Panamanian government-owned Panama Canal Authority . The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide and allow the passage of Panamax ships. A third, wider lane of locks

5995-404: The canal was completed in 1914, 401 years after Panama was first crossed overland by the Europeans in Vasco Núñez de Balboa 's party of conquistadores . The United States spent almost $ 500 million (roughly equivalent to $ 15.2 billion in 2023) to finish the project. This was by far the largest American engineering project to date. The canal was formally opened on 15 August 1914, with the passage of

6104-401: The canal. In 2017, it took ships an average of 11.38 hours to pass between the canal's two outer locks. The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World . The earliest record regarding a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was in 1534, when Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a survey for a route through

6213-489: The classic example of US gunboat diplomacy in Latin America, and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage, "Speak softly and carry a big stick [and] you will go far." After the revolution in 1903, the Republic of Panama became a US protectorate until 1939. In 1904, the United States purchased the French equipment and excavations, including the Panama Railroad , for US$ 40 million, of which $ 30 million related to excavations completed, primarily in

6322-470: The construction of tunnels and locks. A second Isthmian exploratory visit began on 6 December 1877, where two routes were explored in Panama, the San Blas route and a route from Bahía Limón to Panama City, the current Canal route. The French had achieved success in building the Suez Canal in the Middle East. While it was a lengthy project, they were encouraged to plan for a canal to cross the Panamanian isthmus. Wyse went to Bogotá and on 20 March 1878, signed

6431-441: The continental divide to connect Gatun Lake to the Pacific Panama Canal locks . On 10 October 1913, President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph which triggered the explosion that destroyed the Gamboa Dike. This flooded the Culebra Cut, thereby joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal. Alexandre La Valley (a floating crane built by Lobnitz & Company and launched in 1887)

6540-410: The death rate was over 200 per month. Public health measures were ineffective because the role of the mosquito as a disease vector was then unknown. Conditions were downplayed in France to avoid recruitment problems, but the high mortality rate made it difficult to maintain an experienced workforce. Workers had to continually widen the main cut through the mountain at Culebra and reduce the angles of

6649-430: The discharge of water from a basin may be made by a stream gauge located at the basin's outlet. Depending on the conditions of the drainage basin, as rainfall occurs some of it seeps directly into the ground. This water will either remain underground, slowly making its way downhill and eventually reaching the basin, or it will permeate deeper into the soil and consolidate into groundwater aquifers. As water flows through

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6758-441: The drainage area is dependent on the soil type. Certain soil types such as sandy soils are very free-draining, and rainfall on sandy soil is likely to be absorbed by the ground. However, soils containing clay can be almost impermeable and therefore rainfall on clay soils will run off and contribute to flood volumes. After prolonged rainfall even free-draining soils can become saturated , meaning that any further rainfall will reach

6867-642: The drainage basin to the mouth, and may accumulate there, disturbing the natural mineral balance. This can cause eutrophication where plant growth is accelerated by the additional material. Because drainage basins are coherent entities in a hydrological sense, it has become common to manage water resources on the basis of individual basins. In the U.S. state of Minnesota , governmental entities that perform this function are called " watershed districts ". In New Zealand, they are called catchment boards. Comparable community groups based in Ontario, Canada, are called conservation authorities . In North America, this function

6976-432: The eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf , the Indian subcontinent , Burma, and most parts of Australia . The five largest river basins (by area), from largest to smallest, are those of the Amazon (7 million km ), the Congo (4 million km ), the Nile (3.4 million km ), the Mississippi (3.22 million km ), and the Río de la Plata (3.17 million km ). The three rivers that drain

7085-407: The economy of the Falkland Islands . Throughout this time, Ernest "Red" Hallen was hired by the Isthmian Canal Commission to document the progress of the work. In 1914, steam shovels from the Panama Canal were purchased and put to use in Chuquicamata copper mine of northern Chile. By the 1930s, water supply became an issue for the canal, prompting construction of the Madden Dam across

7194-479: The effort, and it was abandoned in April 1700. In 1788, Americans suggested that the Spanish should build the canal, since they controlled the colonies where it would be built. They said that this would be a less treacherous route for ships than going around the southern tip of South America, and that tropical ocean currents would naturally widen the canal after construction. During an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for construction of

7303-455: The engineering and excavation work into three divisions: Atlantic, Central, and Pacific. The Atlantic Division, under Major William L. Sibert , was responsible for construction of the massive breakwater at the entrance to Bahía Limón , the Gatun locks , and their 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (5.6 km) approach channel, and the immense Gatun Dam. The Pacific Division, under Sydney B. Williamson (the only civilian member of this high-level team),

7412-412: The ensuing scandal, known as the Panama affair , some of those deemed responsible were prosecuted, including Gustave Eiffel . Lesseps and his son Charles were found guilty of misappropriation of funds and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. This sentence was later overturned, and the father, at age 88, was never imprisoned. In 1894, a second French company, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama,

7521-419: The gold that was shipped out of California went by the fast Panama route. Several new and larger paddle steamers were soon plying this new route, including private steamship lines owned by American entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt that made use of an overland route through Nicaragua, and the unfortunate SS Central America . In 1850, the United States began construction of the Panama Railroad (now called

7630-412: The greatest portion of western Sub-Saharan Africa , as well as Western Sahara and part of Morocco . The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic. The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U.S. interior between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains , a small part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan , eastern Central America ,

7739-435: The ground and along rivers it can pick up nutrients , sediment , and pollutants . With the water, they are transported towards the outlet of the basin, and can affect the ecological processes along the way as well as in the receiving water body . Modern use of artificial fertilizers , containing nitrogen (as nitrates ), phosphorus , and potassium , has affected the mouths of drainage basins. The minerals are carried by

7848-781: The ground at its terminus, the area can go by several names, such playa, salt flat, dry lake , or alkali sink . The largest endorheic basins are in Central Asia , including the Caspian Sea , the Aral Sea , and numerous smaller lakes. Other endorheic regions include the Great Basin in the United States, much of the Sahara Desert , the drainage basin of the Okavango River ( Kalahari Basin ), highlands near

7957-639: The islands of the Caribbean and the Gulf, and a small part of northern South America. The Mediterranean Sea basin, with the Black Sea , includes much of North Africa , east-central Africa (through the Nile River ), Southern , Central, and Eastern Europe , Turkey , and the coastal areas of Israel , Lebanon , and Syria . The Arctic Ocean drains most of Western Canada and Northern Canada east of

8066-551: The isthmus and issued a report on a route for a proposed Panama Canal. His report was published as a book entitled The Practicability and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . In 1876, Lucien Napoléon Bonaparte Wyse and his chief assistant Armand Réclus, both officers and engineers of the French Navy , explored several routes in the Darien-Atrato regions and made proposals including

8175-476: The lake was formed and is today operated by the Smithsonian Institution , is the largest island on Gatun Lake and renowned internationally. Many of the most important groundbreaking scientific and biological discoveries of the tropical animal and plant kingdom took place here. Gatun Lake encompasses approximately 470 square kilometres (180 sq mi), a vast tropical ecological zone part of

8284-502: The largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. Colombia , France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate . The US took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal in 1914. The US continued to control

8393-514: The most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganges , and Congo rivers. Endorheic basin are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Endorheic basins cover around 18% of the Earth's land. Some endorheic basins drain to an Endorheic lake or Inland sea . Many of these lakes are ephemeral or vary dramatically in size depending on climate and inflow. If water evaporates or infiltrates into

8502-460: The new nation. This happened so quickly that by the time the Colombian government in Bogotá launched a response to the Panamanian uprising US troops had already entered the rebelling province. The Colombian troops dispatched to Panama were hastily assembled conscripts with little training. While these conscripts may have been able to defeat the Panamanian rebels, they would not have been able to defeat

8611-524: The other 59 ft (18 m). There would be eight sets of locks, two at Bohio Soldado and two at Obispo on the Atlantic side; one at Paraiso, two at Pedro Miguel, and one at Miraflores on the Pacific. Artificial lakes would be formed by damming the Chagres River at Bohio and Alhajuela, providing both flood control and electric power. At this time, US President Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Senate were interested in establishing

8720-493: The planning of the Panama intervention as the US acted as an arbitrator between the two sides. The peace treaty that ended the "Thousand Days War" was signed on the USS Wisconsin on 21 November 1902. While in port, the US also brought engineering teams to Panama with the peace delegation to begin planning the canal's construction before the US had even gained the rights to build the canal. All these factors would result in

8829-567: The project. After two years of extensive work, the mosquito-spread diseases were nearly eliminated . Despite the monumental effort, about 5,600 workers died from disease and accidents during the US construction phase of the canal. Besides healthier and far better living conditions for the workers, another benefit given to American citizens working on the Canal was a medal for two years of service. Additional bars were added for each two-year period after that. Designed by Victor D. Brenner and featuring

8938-455: The railway, which was to prove crucial in transporting millions of tons of soil from the cut through the mountains to the dam across the Chagres River. Colonel William C. Gorgas had been appointed chief sanitation officer of the canal construction project in 1904. Gorgas implemented a range of measures to minimize the spread of deadly diseases, particularly yellow fever and malaria , which had recently been shown to be mosquito-borne following

9047-418: The rainfall on the area of land included in its polygon. These polygons are made by drawing lines between gauges, then making perpendicular bisectors of those lines form the polygons. The isohyetal method involves contours of equal precipitation are drawn over the gauges on a map. Calculating the area between these curves and adding up the volume of water is time-consuming. Isochrone maps can be used to show

9156-413: The rainy climate. In France, Lesseps kept the investment and supply of workers flowing long after it was obvious that the targets were not being met, but eventually the money ran out. The French effort went bankrupt in 1889 after reportedly spending US$ 287,000,000; an estimated 22,000 men died from disease and accidents, and the savings of 800,000 investors were lost. Work was suspended on May 15, and in

9265-444: The region in 1506. The Chagres River was explored in 1527 by Hernando de la Serna , who founded the town of Chagres at its mouth and built the fortress of San Lorenzo. Goods were transported on foot from Panama City to the town of Cruces on the rio Chagres, and from there by sailboats on the river all the way to its mouth. This path, called Camino de Cruces , was very popular until the 18th century. The pirate Henry Morgan traveled

9374-546: The reservoir created by the Madden Dam . As these rivers contribute 45 percent of the total water for the canal, the lake is an essential part of the watershed of the canal zone. The lake has a maximum level of 76 metres (250 ft) above sea level, and can store one third of the canal's annual water requirements for the operation of the locks. Lake Alajuela is not part of the navigational route, so there are fewer restrictions on its water level than for Gatun Lake. Water from

9483-521: The reservoir is also used to generate hydroelectric power and to supply Panama City's fresh water. At 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) from the river's mouth lies the Gatun Dam , which created Gatun Lake and provides hydroelectricity. Created in 1913 by the damming of the Chagres River, Gatun Lake is an essential part of the Panama Canal, which forms a water passage between the Atlantic Ocean and

9592-631: The responsibility of the countries sharing it. Nile Basin Initiative , OMVS for Senegal River , Mekong River Commission are a few examples of arrangements involving management of shared river basins. Management of shared drainage basins is also seen as a way to build lasting peaceful relationships among countries. The catchment is the most significant factor determining the amount or likelihood of flooding . Catchment factors are: topography , shape, size, soil type, and land use (paved or roofed areas). Catchment topography and shape determine

9701-461: The river rather than being absorbed by the ground. If the surface is impermeable the precipitation will create surface run-off which will lead to higher risk of flooding; if the ground is permeable, the precipitation will infiltrate the soil. Land use can contribute to the volume of water reaching the river, in a similar way to clay soils. For example, rainfall on roofs, pavements , and roads will be collected by rivers with almost no absorption into

9810-506: The slopes to minimize landslides into the canal. Steam shovels were used in the construction of the canal, purchased from Bay City Industrial Works, a business owned by William L. Clements in Bay City, Michigan . Bucket chain excavators manufactured by both Alphonse Couvreux and Wehyer & Richemond and Buette were also used. Other mechanical and electrical equipment was limited in capabilities, and steel equipment rusted rapidly in

9919-418: The speed with which the runoff reaches a river. A long thin catchment will take longer to drain than a circular catchment. Size will help determine the amount of water reaching the river, as the larger the catchment the greater the potential for flooding. It is also determined on the basis of length and width of the drainage basin. Soil type will help determine how much water reaches the river. The runoff from

10028-406: The then-current president they were popularly known as The Roosevelt Medal. A total of 7189 were ultimately issued, with a few people receiving as many as four bars. Certificates are available today. In 1905, a US engineering panel was commissioned to review the canal design, which had not been finalized. In January 1906 the panel, in a majority of eight to five, recommended to President Roosevelt

10137-492: The thousands of incoming workers. Stevens began the recruitment effort to entice thousands of workers from the United States and other areas to come to the Canal Zone to work. Workers from the Caribbean—called " Afro-Panamanians "—came in large numbers and many settled permanently. Stevens tried to provide accommodation in which the workers could work and live in reasonable safety and comfort. He also re-established and enlarged

10246-415: The time taken for rain to reach the river, while catchment size, soil type, and development determine the amount of water to reach the river. Generally, topography plays a big part in how fast runoff will reach a river. Rain that falls in steep mountainous areas will reach the primary river in the drainage basin faster than flat or lightly sloping areas (e.g., > 1% gradient). Shape will contribute to

10355-477: The time taken for runoff water within a drainage basin to reach a lake, reservoir or outlet, assuming constant and uniform effective rainfall. Drainage basins are the principal hydrologic unit considered in fluvial geomorphology . A drainage basin is the source for water and sediment that moves from higher elevation through the river system to lower elevations as they reshape the channel forms. Drainage basins are important in ecology . As water flows over

10464-602: The water from the lake. Gatun Lake would connect to the Pacific through the mountains at the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut. Unlike Godin de Lépinay with the Congrès International d'Etudes du Canal Interocéanique, Stevens successfully convinced Roosevelt of the necessity and feasibility of this alternative scheme. The construction of a canal with locks required the excavation of more than 17 million cu yd (13 million m ) of material over and above

10573-496: The work of Cuban epidemiologist, Carlos Finlay and American pathologist, Walter Reed . Investment was made in extensive sanitation projects, including city water systems, fumigation of buildings, spraying of insect-breeding areas with oil and larvicide, installation of mosquito netting and window screens, and elimination of stagnant water. Despite opposition from the commission (one member said his ideas were barmy), Gorgas persisted, and when Stevens arrived, he threw his weight behind

10682-610: The world's land drains to the Atlantic Ocean . In North America , surface water drains to the Atlantic via the Saint Lawrence River and Great Lakes basins, the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, the Canadian Maritimes , and most of Newfoundland and Labrador . Nearly all of South America east of the Andes also drains to the Atlantic, as does most of Western and Central Europe and

10791-411: The world. The impassable rainforest around Gatun Lake has been the best defense of the Panama Canal. Today, these areas have endured practically unscathed by human interference and are among the one the few accessible areas where various native Central American animal and plant species can be observed undisturbed in their natural habitat. Barro Colorado Island , which was reserved for scientific study when

10900-430: Was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, Neopanamax ships. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons . By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through

11009-462: Was US Army Major George Washington Goethals of the US Army Corps of Engineers . Soon to be promoted to lieutenant colonel and later to general, he was a strong, West Point -trained leader and civil engineer with experience in canals (unlike Stevens). Goethals directed the work in Panama to a successful conclusion in 1914, two years ahead of the target date of 10 June 1916. Goethals divided

11118-602: Was able to raise considerable funds in France as a result of the huge profits generated by his successful construction of the Suez Canal . Although the Panama Canal needed to be only 40 percent as long as the Suez Canal, it was much more of an engineering challenge because of the combination of tropical rain forests, debilitating climate, the need for canal locks, and the lack of any ancient route to follow. Lesseps wanted

11227-499: Was carried out on the new approach channels, but the project was canceled after World War II. After World War II, US control of the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it became contentious; relations between Panama and the United States became increasingly tense. Many Panamanians felt that the Zone rightfully belonged to Panama; student protests were met by the fencing-in of the zone and an increased military presence there. Demands for

11336-610: Was created to take over the project. A minimal workforce of a few thousand people was employed primarily to comply with the terms of the Colombian Panama Canal concession, to run the Panama Railroad , and to maintain the existing excavation and equipment in salable condition. The company sought a buyer for these assets, with an asking price of US$ 109,000,000. In the meantime, they continued with enough activity to maintain their franchise. Phillipe Bunau-Varilla ,

11445-412: Was given control of the Panama Canal Zone, over which the United States exercised sovereignty. The commission reported directly to Secretary of War William Howard Taft and was directed to avoid the inefficiency and corruption that had plagued the French 15 years earlier. On 6 May 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed John Findley Wallace , formerly chief engineer and finally general manager of

11554-594: Was similarly responsible for the Pacific 3-mile (4.8 km) breakwater in Panama Bay , the approach channel to the locks, and the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks and their associated dams and reservoirs. The Central Division, under Major David du Bose Gaillard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers , was assigned one of the most difficult parts: excavating the Culebra Cut through

11663-501: Was summoned to Washington; he declared a sea-level approach to be "an entirely untenable proposition". He argued in favor of a canal using a lock system to raise and lower ships from a large reservoir 85 ft (26 m) above sea level. This would create both the largest dam (Gatun Dam) and the largest human-made lake (Gatun Lake) in the world at that time. The water to refill the locks would be taken from Gatun Lake by opening and closing enormous gates and valves and letting gravity propel

11772-415: Was the first self-propelled vessel to transit the canal from ocean to ocean. This vessel crossed the canal from the Atlantic in stages during construction, finally reaching the Pacific on 7 January 1914. SS Cristobal (a cargo and passenger ship built by Maryland Steel , and launched in 1902 as SS Tremont ) on 3 August 1914, was the first ship to transit the canal from ocean to ocean. The construction of

11881-434: Was won by the firm Hutchison Whampoa , a Hong Kong–based shipping interest owned by Li Ka-shing . While globally the Atlantic Ocean is east of the isthmus and the Pacific is west, the general direction of the canal passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific is from northwest to southeast, because of the shape of the isthmus at the point the canal occupies. The Bridge of the Americas ( Spanish : Puente de las Américas ) at

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