Panama & Los AngelesPanama & Los AngelesThe Waterworks That Made the American WestThe Waterworks That Made the American West

History 141 # 71154

Student: B Lukas

Instructor: Dr. M Arguello

What is Panama Canal?What is Panama Canal?

• The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 77-kilometre (48 mi) ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade.

• Built from 1904 to 1914 One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the canal had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via either the Strait of Magellan or Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 9,500 km (5,900 mi), well under half the 22,500 km (14,000 mi) route around Cape Horn.

A Man, A Plan, A CanalA Man, A Plan, A Canal

• Fresh off the success of the Suez Canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was not an engineer, he was an enthusiastic entrepreneur, proposed building a fifty mile canal across the isthmus of Panama.

• The first job was to cut down the jungle by hand across the isthmus.

• Because of the technology and medical knowledge was not at the level it should have been to take on such a tremendous job; 21,900 workers died from disease (particularly malaria and yellow fever) and landslides.

• In 1889 de Lesseps’ canal company collapsed and he lived the rest of his life as an embarrassment to France.

A Man, A Plan, A CanalA Man, A Plan, A Canal

• 1901, President McKinley was shot leaving Theodore Roosevelt in charge.

• 1903 the U.S. Senate gave the go ahead to finish the job that the French had started, but Columbia started to balk at the negotiations.

• French engineer Phillipe Bunau-Varilla rallied many influential Panamanians, known as the Panamanian Revolution of 1903.

• Roosevelt sent a gunship preventing the Columbians from landing their troops.

• Panama was independent in less than one day without any bloodshed.

• In 1904, Roosevelt bought out the French’s involvement in the project for 40 million dollars.

A Man, A Plan, A CanalA Man, A Plan, A Canal

• 1904, U.S. construction on the canal began

• The United States learned from France’s mistakes and made accommodations for all the workers and were prepared to take on one of the most monumental tasks in human history.

• Advances in hygiene decreased the death rate compared to that of the French construction.

• 21,900 workers died in the construction of the canal, but only 5,600 died under the U.S. phase of the project.

• John Frank Stevens was the chief engineer.

• 1907, he  left the project.

A Man, A Plan, A CanalA Man, A Plan, A Canal

• 1907, George Washington Goethals came in to head and finish the job.

• Ellicott Dredges built a special cutter dredge for the canal.

• 1914, The Panama Canal was completed.• The completion of the canal made the time cut

in half for a ship traveling from New York to San Francisco.

• The total cost was 352 million dollars on the U.S side, and 639 million dollars for the French.

• Once the canal was finished, the annual traffic was 1,000 ships, but in 2008 the annual traffic rate exceeded 14,000 ships.

• Since 1999, Panama has held control of the canal, but the U.S. still protects it militarily.

Summary Summary

• The concept was dates to the early 16th century.• In 1880 the project under French leadership was abandoned after 21,900

workers died from disease (particularly malaria and yellow fever) and landslides.

• 1914 the United States was successfully opening the canal with incurring a further 5,600 deaths.

• The U.S. controlled the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it until the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for the transition of control to Panama. From 1979 to 1999 the canal was under joint U.S.–Panamanian administration, and from 31 December 1999 command of the waterway was assumed by the Panama Canal Authority, an agency of the Panamanian government.

• While the Pacific Ocean is west of the isthmus and the Atlantic to the east, the 8- to 10-hour journey through the canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic is one from southeast to northwest. This is a result of the isthmus's "curving back on itself" in the region of the canal. The Bridge of the Americas (Spanish: Puente de las Américas) at the Pacific end is about a third of a degree of longitude east of the end near Colon on the Atlantic.

Los Angeles Aqueduct Los Angeles Aqueduct

• William Mulholland was a self-made engineer and became the director of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) designed the Los Angeles Aqueduct which delivers water from the Owens River in the Easter Sierra Nevada’s to Los Angeles.

• Mulholland and the LA Mayor tricked land owners and farmers into selling their rights to the water to LA by making them think they were supporting local irrigation project.

• 1908 Construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct began with a budget of 24.5 million dollars with over 5,000 workers.

Los Angeles Aqueduct Los Angeles Aqueduct

Los Angeles Aqueduct Los Angeles Aqueduct

• The project consisted of 223 miles of steel pipe, 120 miles of railroad tracks, 2 hydroelectric plants, 170 miles of power lines, 240 miles of telephone line, an 500 miles of roads.

• LA was now growing 11 times faster per year than New York, and its rapid growth attracted people and immigrants from all over.

Los Angeles Aqueduct Los Angeles Aqueduct

• One of the main reasons LA needed water was for farming, but before long the land was being cheaply sold to build residential communities.

• Movie productions brought even more fame and money to the city. • LA became known as the “Water Vampire” and protests broke out.• Land owners and farmers in the Owens Valley had their land

destroyed because of the aqueduct, and it changed the landscape of the valley forever.

• After a short time, the Owens Valley wasn’t providing enough water for LA, so they looked further north to Mono Lake, and east to the Colorado River.

Los Angeles Aqueduct Los Angeles Aqueduct

Los Angeles Aqueduct Los Angeles Aqueduct

• Between 1924 and 1926 under the supervision of William Mulholland, the St. Francis Dam and reservoir, they called the Bureau of Water Works and Supply.

• Three minutes before midnight on March 12, 1928, the dam failed catastrophically, and the resulting flood killed more than 450 people.

• The collapse of the St. Francis Dam is one of the worst American civil engineering failures of the 20th century and remains the second-greatest loss of life in California's history, after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and fire. The disaster marked the end of Mulholland's career.

Los Angeles Aqueduct Los Angeles Aqueduct

• A lot of environmental damage had been done to the Owens Valley and Mono Lake.

• Once Mulholland was gone, more efficient and responsible planning were used to secure additional water sources.

• Careful management of California water sources is a must to keep LA and southern California a float in the future.

SOURCESSOURCES

• Film:  A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama

• Film:  Cadillac Desert: Mulholland’s Dream

• Website:  The Story of the Los Angeles Aqueduct  -  Los Angeles Department of Water & Power

• WIKIPEDIA the Free Encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org

• Google Image Search www.google.com