Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When did construction on the Panama Canal begin?
France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.
In 1904 when the construction of the Panama Canal was taken over by the United States for the failure of the French company, will again resort to the West Indian worker. Although between 1904 and 1914 the vast majority of Afro-West Indians who arrived in Panama did a one-year contract with the idea of returning to their home islands once the offshore project, after construction of the canal many Afro-Antillean stayed in Panama. Afro-West Indians who remained in Panama many got jobs in the Canal Zone and became the largest immigrant group in Panama. On the subject of Afro-Antillean Panama, Leslie B. Rout said that when the canal was opened in 1914, some 20,000 African-West Indians remained in Panama.
The Panama Canal Zone was an unorganized US territory located within the Republic of Panama. It was established under the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty in 1903 and disestablished in 1979 under the Torrijos–Carter Treaties. Panama gained full control over the Panama Canal in 1999.
In 1903, the U.S. aided the secession of Panama from the Republic of Colombia. The secession was engineered by a Panamanian faction backed by the Panama Canal Company, a French–US corporation whose aim was the construction of a waterway across the Isthmus of Panama thus connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In 1903, the U.S. signed the Hay-Herrán Treaty with Colombia, granting the United States use of the Isthmus of Panama in exchange for financial compensation. amidst the Thousand Days' War. The Panama Canal was already under construction, and the Panama Canal Zone was carved out and placed under United States sovereignty. The US did not transfer the zone back to Panama until 2000.
The ship canal took six years to complete at a cost of just over £15 million, equivalent to about £1.65 billion in 2011. It is still the longest river navigation canal and remains the world's eighth-longest ship canal, only slightly shorter than the Panama Canal in Central America. More than 54 million cubic yards (41,000,000 m³) of material were excavated, about half as much as was removed during the building of the Suez Canal. An average of 12,000 workers were employed during construction, peaking at 17,000. Regular navvies were paid d per hour for a 10-hour working day, equivalent to about £16 per day in 2010. In terms of machinery, the project made use of more than of temporary rail track, 180 locomotives, more than 6000 trucks and wagons, 124 steam-powered cranes, 192 other steam engines, and 97 steam excavators. Major engineering landmarks of the scheme included the Barton Swing Aqueduct, the first swing aqueduct in the world, and a neighbouring swing bridge for road traffic at Barton, both of which are now Grade II* listed structures. In 1909 the canal's depth was increased by to , equalling that of the Suez Canal.
The Panama Canal Zone () was an unincorporated territory of the United States from 1903 to 1979, centered on the Panama Canal and surrounded by the Republic of Panama. The zone consisted of the canal and an area generally extending on each side of the centerline, excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of the Zone. Its border spanned three of Panama's provinces. When reservoirs were created to assure a steady supply of water for the locks, those lakes were included within the Zone.
During World War II, the canal proved a vital part of the U.S. military strategy, allowing ships to transfer easily between the Atlantic and Pacific. Politically, the Canal remained a territory of the United States until 1977, when the Torrijos–Carter Treaties began the process of transferring territorial control of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama, a process completed on 31 December 1999.
The new locks opened for commercial traffic on 26 June 2016, and the first ship to cross the canal using the third set of locks was a modern New Panamax vessel, the Chinese-owned container ship "Cosco Shipping Panama". The original locks, now over 100 years old, allow engineers greater access for maintenance, and are projected to continue operating indefinitely.
The Atlantic shipping terminal was in Colon, Panama. The Pacific terminal was in Panama City. The 48-mile double track railway was the first transcontinental railway and an engineering marvel of the era. Until the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, the Panama Railway Company carried the heaviest volume of freight per unit length of any railroad in the world. H. W. Corbett and others from Portland would then use it to get back and forth to the connecting ships to and from the East, rather than crossing on mule back. When the transcontinental Union Pacific Railroad to San Francisco was completed on May 10, 1869, this more direct route was then used for shipping and travel connecting to Portland by boat or stage coach.
Effective July 1, 1951, under an act of Congress dated September 26, 1950 (64 Stat. 1038), governance of the Canal Zone was through the Canal Zone Government with the canal operated by the Panama Canal Company until 1979 when the Panama Canal Commission took over its governance. The entire structure was under the control of the United States government with the Secretary of the Army appointing the Panama Canal Company board of directors and the Canal Zone Government was entirely financed by the company. The office of Governor of the Panama Canal Zone was not usually a stepping stone to higher political office but a position given to a US Army active duty general officers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The Governor was also President of the Panama Canal Company. The Canal Zone had its own police force (the Canal Zone Police), courts, and judges (the United States District Court for the Canal Zone). Despite being an unincorporated territory, the Canal Zone was never granted a congressional delegate.
Originally announced in 1923, the construction of the base proceeded slowly at Sembawang until the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. It was completed in 1938, at a staggering cost of £60 million – equivalent to £2½ billion in 2006. The base covered and had what was then the largest dry dock in the world, the third-largest floating dock, and enough fuel tanks to support the entire British Navy for six months.
SS "Ancon was an American cargo and passenger ship that became the first ship to officially transit the Panama Canal in 1914. The ship was built as Shawmut" for the Boston Steamship Company by the Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Maryland and put into Pacific service operating out of Puget Sound ports for Japan, China and the Philippine Islands. "Shawmut" and sister ship "Tremont" were two of the largest United States commercial ships in service at the time and the company eventually found them too expensive to operate.
The honour for the first summit-level canal therefore goes to the Grand Canal of China. This was started in the 4th century BCE with major extensions in 329 CE, and used single locks until the 10th century when pound locks were introduced. But it was the rerouting of the canal in the 1280s to shorten the connection to the new capital Beijing at the start of the Yuan dynasty, crossing the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, that established it as a summit-level canal. It remained into the modern era as the longest canal in the world at .
"Shawmut" and "Tremont" were acquired by the United States Government through the agency of the Panama Railroad Company's Panama Railroad Steamship Line, whose assets were entirely owned by the government and critical to construction of the canal, to serve between New York and the Atlantic terminus during canal construction. Both ships were renamed for features of the canal; "Shawmut" for the Pacific side terminus Ancon and "Tremont" as for the Canal's Atlantic port. Though not the first vessel to make a complete transit, "Ancon" made the first official and ceremonial transit with a delegation of some two hundred dignitaries aboard. After the end of World War I the ship saw very brief service from 28 March to 25 July 1919 as a commissioned United States Ship, USS "Ancon" (ID-1467), making two round trip voyages from the New York Port of Embarkation to France returning troops home. "Ancon" was returned to Panama Canal service and was in service with the canal until 1939 when the ship was sold to private parties known as the Permanente Steamship Company and renamed Permanente.
James Brindley was brought in for his technical expertise and suggested varying the route of the proposed canal away from Salford and across the Irwell into Manchester. A second Act was secured for this variance, which included an aqueduct to cross the Irwell. This was built relatively quickly for the time; work commenced in September 1760 and the first boat crossed on 17 July 1761. The canal opened in 1761 and along with the stone aqueduct at Barton-upon-Irwell, was considered a major engineering achievement. One writer said that when finished, it "will be the most extraordanary thing in the kingdom, if not in Europe. The boats in some places are to go underground, and in other places over a navigable river, without communicating with its waters ..."
Grand Canal
With a length of 1,500 metres and a width of 62 metres, the "Grand Canal", which was built between 1668 and 1671, physically and visually prolongs the east-west axis to the walls of the "Grand Parc". During the "Ancien Régime", the "Grand Canal" served as a venue for boating parties. In 1674, as a result of a series of diplomatic arrangements that benefited Louis XIV, the king ordered the construction of "Petite Venise" – Little Venice. Located at the junction of the "Grand Canal" and the junction of the northern transversal branch, Little Venice housed the caravels and yachts that were received from The Netherlands and the gondolas and gondoliers received as gifts from the Doge of Venice, hence the name (Marie 1968; Nolhac 1901, 1925; Thompson 2006; Verlet 1985).
In 1977 the Department of Public Works, began a long term project which would rebuild all of the infrastructure. It would be the largest construction/reconstruction effort in the history of the Kern River. In addition to rebuilding existing infrastructure, other construction projects were carried out. These include constructing new weirs and the "2,800 Acre Water Bank", and inter-basin levee system. Most projects were completed in 1983, but the Second Point of Measurement was not finished until 1985.
On 8 March 1885, the Spanish Navy authorized construction of the "Arsenal de Olongapo" and by the following September, work started at Olongapo. Both the harbor and its inner basin were dredged and a drainage canal was built, as the Spanish military authorities were planning to make Olongapo and their navy yard an "island." This canal also served as a line of defense and over which the bridge at the base's Main Gate passes. When the Arsenal was finished, the gunboats "Caviteño", "Santa Ana", and "San Quintín" were assigned for its defense. To complement these gunboats, coastal artilleries were planned for the east and west ends of the station, as well as on Grande Island.
The Panama YMCA was founded on 24 May 1966. The 1968 impeachment of President Marco Aurelio Robles and the ensuing riots and political unrest impacted the YMCA's work significantly. Due to the chaos, the schools were closed for five months, and the after-school programmes at the Panama YMCA were cancelled. Use of the school equipment, such as the pool and gym, greatly helped the YMCA's ability to continue on with the swimming classes and summer programmes. These programmes remained popular throughout this time.
In ancient China, large canals for river transport were established as far back as the Spring and Autumn Period (8th–5th centuries BC), the longest one of that period being the Hong Gou (Canal of the Wild Geese), which according to the ancient historian Sima Qian connected the old states of Song, Zhang, Chen, Cai, Cao, and Wei. The Caoyun System of canals was essential for imperial taxation, which was largely assessed in kind and involved enormous shipments of rice and other grains. By far the longest canal was the Grand Canal of China, still the longest canal in the world today and the oldest extant one. It is long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Zhuodu (Beijing) and Yuhang (Hangzhou). The project began in 605 and was completed in 609, although much of the work combined older canals, the oldest section of the canal existing since at least 486 BC. Even in its narrowest urban sections it is rarely less than wide.
The American China Development Company then pursued the right to build the southern leg, from Wuchang across the river from Hankou to Guangzhou ("Canton") on the Pearl River. America, unlike the Russian, French, German, Japanese, or British empires, did not have a political stake in the Chinese economy and had significant experience building railroads, which made the American China Development Company an attractive option. In April 1898, the Chinese minister in Washington and A.W. Bash came to an agreement for a loan in which the American company had to market bonds worth 4,000,000, to oversee the construction of the railroad, and to operate it during the fifty years of the loan period. The concession also allowed the company to operate coal mines nearby. The Guangzhou–Wuchang line was the only railway project secured by an American company after 1895, but even this railway line would be lost within seven years.
After the Panama Canal Company went bankrupt in 1888 amidst charges of fraud, Bunau-Varilla was left stranded in Panama. He struggled to find a new way to construct the canal. When the New Panama Canal Company sprang up back in his native France, Bunau-Varilla sailed home, having purchased a large amount of stock. However, as de Lesseps' company had before, the New Panama Canal Company soon abandoned efforts to build the canal. It sold the land in Panama to the United States, in hopes that the company would not fail entirely. U.S. President Grover Cleveland, an anti-imperialist, avoided the canal issue. When the more supportive Theodore Roosevelt became president (succeeding William McKinley), canal planning resumed in the United States.
The treaty was approved by the provisional Panamanian government on December 2, 1903, and by the US Senate on February 23, 1904. Under the treaty, Panama received , much of which the United States required to be invested in that country, plus annual payments of ; with those payments made, as well as for the purchase of the French company assets, the Canal Zone was formally turned over by Panama on May 4, 1904, when American officials reopened the Panama City offices of the canal company and raised the American flag. This marked the beginning point for U.S. excavation and construction which concluded in August 1914 with the opening of the canal to commercial traffic.
The first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia's province of Panama began on January 1, 1881. The project was inspired by the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who 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 due to the combination of tropical rain forests, debilitating climate, the need for canal locks, and the lack of any ancient route to follow.
After de independence, the Italian presence continued to emphasize immigrants such as Agostino Codazzi and Napoleone Garella, who in the nineteenth century and at different times, performed studies that recommended Panama as the ideal for the construction of an interoceanic canal.
Meanwhile, in 1844, Garella was the first engineer assigned by the French government to find a route for the construction of the Canal and in his studies recommended the route of the isthmus of Panama over the routes suggested by the isthmus of Tehuantepec and Nicaragua. During the isthmus canal project and construction continued to arrive eminent Italians from scientists, artists, priests and merchants, to craftsmen and laborers. They founded families whose descendants were quickly integrated the dynamic process of formation of the Panamanian nationality. One was elected President of Panama in 1949 and 1960: Roberto Francisco Chiari Remón (March 2, 1905 in Panama City – March 1, 1981) was the President of Panama in 1949 and later from 1960 to 1964. He belonged to the Liberal Party. In the 1920s even his father (Rodolfo Chiari) was president.
The wave of Italian immigration occurred around 1880. With the construction of the Canal by the Universal Panama Canal Company came the arrival of up to 2,000 Italians. Two years later in 1882, at the initiative of Mr. Oreste Badio, a prominent member of the Italian colony, was promoved the creation of the "Italian Benevolent Society" in order to help the countrymen affected by disease or who need some kind of help. With the presence of 37 members.