Design
The Panama Canal Is About To Become an Even Bigger 'Big Ditch'
The soon-to-open expanded canal will—finally—accommodate the world’s gigantic freight ships. For now.
After decades of international controversy, lost fortunes, and the loss of thousands laborers’ lives, the Panama Canal opened in 1914, with two massive locks sized to accommodate the freight ships of the day. The debut of the “Big Ditch” marked a new era in the global economy, connecting U.S. Atlantic and Gulf ports to Asia, South America, and beyond.
Yet only a few short years passed before the U.S., which had shepherded the last years of the canal’s construction, decided that the canal was not large enough for the ships the country wanted at its ports. Construction began on a third set of locks in 1939. But as the costs of World War II stacked up, the project was abandoned.