PHO

T

OGRAPHY B

Y (

CL

OCK

WISE FR

OM OPPO

SITE) 

Susan Kr

aus, Shutt

er

st

ock, Susan Kr

aus, Shutt

er

st

ock (2)

A GREAT MARKETING TOOL 

FOR YOUR BUSINESS

to advertise contact John Kramer

jkramer@sunflowerpub.com  |  785.865.4091

P

anama … 

It’s impossible for most Americans to hear that 

name without adding “Canal” to the end. And it 

is equally hard for most Panamanians to think of what 
their country might be without its noted feature. Panama 
is largely defined by the canal that bisects it, not east-to-
west but north-to-south.

That identity becomes more distinct with the 

opening of a bigger Panama Canal set for June 2016. 
As this article goes to press, 90 percent of the new canal 
is complete. But, of course, that last 10 percent could 
require triple the time anticipated. At least that’s how 
projects seem to work in my life.

Whenever it is finished, the new canal promises 

to be as much of an attraction as the existing 102-year-
old wonder.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The back-story of the canal is one of death, disease 

and failure. Nicaragua was originally considered, then 
discarded (those pesky volcanoes) for the project. 
While the Spanish did numerous surveys in the mid-
1800s, it was the French, perhaps inspired by the 
completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, who founded 
an international company to begin the daunting task in 
1881. But the Suez was constructed across pancake-flat 
desert while Panama presented new challenges in both 
engineering (how to get ships up and over the spine 
of the continental divide) and terrain (swamps and 
jungle). The French teams approached the project with 
40,000 workers but lost 22,000 to malaria, yellow fever 
and other diseases. The original company then went 

The new canal promises to be as much  
of an attraction as the existing  
102-year-old wonder.    

– Susan Kraus