The Building of the Panama Canal in Historic Photographs by Ulrich Keller

Author:Ulrich Keller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2013-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

ULRICH KELLER

THE BUILDING

OF THE

PANAMA CANAL

in Historic Photographs

The French Fiasco (nos. 1–4). Ferdinand de Lesseps, celebrated builder of the Suez Canal, tackled the project of a canal in Panama in 1879. A colossal stock company was formed, many shiploads of men and machinery went to Panama, an awesome amount of excavation was accomplished, but in eight years the whole undertaking ended in the biggest financial fiasco of the century. Apparently, there were four principal reasons for Lesseps’ failure: malaria and yellow fever exacted a terrible death toll of over 22,000 men; the French machinery was too light and lacking in standardization; the use of 200 poorly coordinated contracting firms resulted in high expenses and low efficiency; and the plan for a sea-level canal was unrealistic to begin with.

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