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Panama Canal: A Brief Case Study
Rohan Rathore
N01151124
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Project Management
Global Business Management
Andrea Wilson
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Table of Contents
Abstract.............................................................................................................................. 3
Panama Canal: A Brief Case Study ................................................................................... 4
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4
Overview ....................................................................................................................... 5
Geography ..................................................................................................................... 5
Initiation and Planning .............................................................................................. 6
References ....................................................................................................................... 10
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Abstract
Panama Canal is the waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic (via the
Caribbean Sea) and Pacific oceans, developed via the USA (1904-14) on territory leased from
the republic of Panama. The canal, strolling S and SE from Limón Bay at Colón on the
Atlantic to the Bay of Panama at Balboa on the Pacific, is 64 km length from shore to shore and
eighty-two km lengthy between channel entrances. The Pacific terminus is 27 mi (43 km) east
of the Caribbean terminus. The minimum depth is forty-one ft. (12.5 m)(Columbia University &
P. Lagasse.(2016)The Columbia Encyclopedia.
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Panama Canal: A Brief Case Study
Introduction
Very few human deeds have accepted to change the face of the planet on which we live.
as did the winning achievement of the interoceanic Panama Canal in 1914 by the United States.
Such projects before this instance had only managed to build up or shred presented geographical
features - the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China and the trans-continental railroads -
but none had ever even aspired to complete something so skeptical as splitting the continents.
On August 15th, 1914, the Panama Canal opened, linking the world’s two largest
oceans and signaling America’s coming out as an inclusive superpower. American
resourcefulness and modernism had succeeded where, fifteen years before, the French had
failed dreadfully. The construction of the Canal was the essence of man’s mastery over nature
and signaled the foundation of America’s supremacy of world affairs.
Regardless of earlier failures by other organizations, the United states as a whole was
able to prevail over the several dangers present at the isthmus between North and South
America, and build what remains today one of the utmost engineering marvels of the present
world.
After more than a decade of effort, thriving accomplishment of the Panama Canal
established the U.S. as a global influence in commerce and technology at the daybreak of the
20th century (BBC documentary. [History with Natalie Gray]. (2016, July 25).
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Overview
For 92 years, the Panama Canal has served as a corridor for foremost world produce. The
significance of the Panama Canal continues to grow up due to amplified trade between the
United States and Asia. More Panamax-sized vessels (the largest vessels that can transmit the
Canal) are using the Canal today, hauling additional cargo than ever. However, in distinction
with the Canal’s historical cargoes, which were comprised primarily of bulk supplies, today,
containerized goods have become the moral fiber of trade expansion all the way through the
Canal. The raise in containerized cargoes has made the “All-Water Route” one of the fastest-
growing and trustworthy trade routes.
Geography
(By Thomas Römer.(n.d.).
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Initiation and Planning
The recitation of the Panama Canal goes back to 16th century. After indulgent the riches of
Peru, Ecuador, and Asia, and evaluating the time it took the gold to arrive at the ports of Spain,
it was recommended in 1524 to Charles V, that by cutting out a piece of land someplace in
Panama, the trips would be made shorter and the risk of enchanting the reserves all the way
through the cape would downsize such an venture. A study of the isthmus was prearranged and
later a working preparation for a canal was strained up in 1529. The wars in Europe and the
thirsts for the have power over of kingdoms in the Mediterranean Sea put the project on long-
term hold.
In 1534 a Spanish official recommended a canal route close to that of the now current
canal & in a while forsaken its curiosity in the canal.
Execution
Diverse surveys were made between 1850 and 1875 showed that only two routes were realistic,
the one across Panama and another across Nicaragua. In 1876 an worldwide company was
structured; two years later it obtained a dispensation from the Colombian government to dig a
canal crosswise the cape.
In 1899, the US Congress formed an Isthmian Canal Commission to monitor the
prospective of a Central American canal and to direct a route. The commission first resolute on
a route through Nicaragua, but afterward on overturned its decision. The Lesseps Company
presented its worldly goods to the United States at a price of $40 million. The United States and
the new state of Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty, by which the United States
definite the liberation of Panama and protected an incessant charter on a 10-mile strip for the
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canal. Panama was to be remunerated by a before time compensation of $10 million and an
annuity of $250,000, beginning in 1913. This strip is now recognized as the Canal Zone (Mohit.
(2015, May13).
Working of the Canal
Lock system of the canal. [Photograph]. Nov11,2012.
Retrieved Fromhttps://in.pinterest.com/pin/561753753491559877/.
Socio – Technical identification of Panama Canal
The Panama Canal has social and cultural impacts on the USA and Panama. First, given that its
commissioning in 1914, the canal has made the USA and Panama, as well as other South
American countries unavoidably bound. Second, the canal has prejudiced the politics of the
regions it connects, particularly Panamanian and US politics. It is significance noting that even
prior to its construction and commissioning, the canal had impacts on the politics of the
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expanse. at first, for the US to raise the canal, it had to engineer the severance and liberty of
Panama from Colombia in 1903
The Panama Canal moreover has abundant environmental and biodiversity impacts.
First, about 27,000 people died throughout the construction of the canal at the same time as
hundreds of thousands were displaced through the early construction of the canal. Furthermore,
thousands of animal and plant species of the rainforest were either displaced or damaged,
ensuing massive biomass sufferers. Remarkably, the construction and operations of the Panama
Canal caused dreadful damage of previously unharmed rainforest. The additional simply evident
environmental impacts of the Panama Canal are silting, floods, deforestation and the
consequential loss of water in the region around the canal (Jeong, H., Crittenden, J.C. , Xu, M.
(2009 Dec 16).
Project Analysis
The Panama Canal is an accomplishment as it allowed a good number ships and boats to travel
straight from the Atlantic to the pacific and vice versa devoid of having to sail right in the
region of the tip of south America, several people died making it root of the explosions requisite
to carry out the masses of rock every day but also cause of malaria and yellow fever owing to
the atrocious circumstances that they lived in. The canal was ongoing to be built in 1880 under
French guidance and opened in 1914 but not after approximately 27,500 people from the U.S
and South America gave their lives to make it go on. It is now a key medium in global shipping
and almost 14,000 ships travel through it every year apart from aircraft carriers which are too
outsized and have to sail just about the tip of South America.
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It achieved its purpose to decrease travel time linking the two oceans and this worked
delightfully not only in peace times but furthermore in the times of the war without which the
US would have had a tough time moving ships from one ocean to the other. It has also been an
economical triumph. It brought affluence to the country even though there have been
pessimistic points as well. Nowadays it is in 100% Panamanian hands and in any single year
the Panama Canal brings the country much more money that it ever expected in all the years it
was leased to the US (Haskin F.J. (1915).
Conclusion.
The Panama Canal was, is, and shall linger the terrain production sensation of the 20th century.
Never before nor since has any project accomplished the feats of mastering the fundamentals, of
engineering and production, or of potential scheduling as has been done at Panama. After 87
years of incessant tune-up, it continues to be as functional as the day it became outfitted. An
process that was not viable only 30 years earlier, the American country rallied following the
vigorous laborers that were going to turn the isthmus between North and South America until it
bust and a new pathway between the seas was shaped. Killer diseases, high costs, outwardly
unfeasible excavations, all faced the engineers at the Canal Zone, but one by one they were
prevailing over until the Panama Canal alone stood out from among the wreckage and invited
people of the world to come and travel her waters - a new corridor for the ever-expanding, ever-
changing individual race.
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References
By Thomas Römer/OpenStreetMap data, CC BY-SA 2.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19678675
Haskin F.J.(1915).The Panama Canal. Garden City, NY: DOUBLEDAY PAGE AND
COMPANY
Lock system of the canal. [Photograph]. Nov11,2012
Retrieved Fromhttps://in.pinterest.com/pin/561753753491559877/.
Mauer et al. (2006) What Roosevelt Took: The Economic Impact of the Panama Canal,
1903 ~ 1937.
Mohit. (2015, May13). A brief history of Panama Canal. Retrieved from
http://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-history/a-brief-history-of-the-panama-canal/.
Panama Canal. (2016). In Columbia University & P. Lagasse, The Columbia
Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.humber.ca/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/columency/p
anama_canal/0.
Jeong, H. , Crittenden, J.C. , Xu, M. (2009 Dec 16). The Panama Canal case study.
Retrieved from:
http://sustainable.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Panamna+Canal+Case+Study_hyunj
u.pdf
