In the middle of the 19th century, the California gold rush brought thousands of settlers to America’s west coast. But finding gold may have been easier than transporting it back east. The only hope for avoiding a grueling six month wagon journey was to travel the narrowest portion of the continent— the 48-kilometer Isthmus of Panama. By 1855, a railroad spanning the region significantly shortened to the trip, but unloading and reloading ships at each port cost time and money. To truly connect these two bodies of water shipping interests needed a canal— a continuous maritime passage through the isthmus.
十九世紀中葉, 加州的淘金潮吸引了 數千拓荒者前往美國西岸。 但後來發現挖到金子 還比將金子運回東岸容易。 若想避免六個月篷車跋涉的艱辛, 唯一的希望是穿越 美洲大陸最狹窄的部分── 全長 48 公里的巴拿馬地峽。 1855 年,一條橫跨兩岸, 大幅縮短旅途的鐵路完工, 然而兩邊港口的裝卸工作 仍然耗費大量時間與金錢。 要真正連結兩片海洋, 船運業者需要的是運河── 一條橫跨地峽、沒有間斷的海運通道。
The first attempt at this colossal construction project was taken up in 1881 by French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps. De Lesseps had supervised construction of Egypt's Suez Canal, but his success made him overconfident. He insisted on digging the canal at sea level, even though it required boring directly through the Continental Divide mountain range. Futile excavation efforts were buried under constant landslides. And since the diplomat had only visited the site briefly during Panama’s dry season, his workers were unprepared for torrential storms, venomous jungle fauna, and tropical diseases. After spending $287 million and losing a staggering 22,000 lives, the French abandoned the project.
這個龐大的工程計畫 於 1881 年展開, 由法國外交官斐迪南·德雷賽布負責。 他之前負責監督過 埃及蘇伊士運河的工程, 那次的成功讓他過度自信。 他堅持運河要在海平面開鑿, 即便是得直接鑿穿 美洲大陸分水嶺的山脈。 每次努力挖掘開的洞穴 不斷地被山崩掩埋。 外交官本人只在巴拿馬旱季時 短暫地視察過工程現場, 手下的工人則對暴風雨、 叢林的有毒動物、 及熱帶疫病都毫無準備。 在耗費了兩億八千七百萬美元 和高達 22,000 條人命後, 法國人放棄了這項工程。
The United States had been considering building a canal through Nicaragua, but at this point, the chance to succeed where France failed was tempting. Panamanian leaders were also eager to complete a canal which would bring their country business and prestige. However, Panama was still a part of Colombia at the time, and the country was stalling negotiations with the U.S. Sensing an opportunity, President Teddy Roosevelt went straight to the Panamanians. With encouragement and military support from the U.S., Panama launched a coup in 1903. Within days, they became an independent nation and signed a treaty to begin construction of the canal.
美國之前已經想要興建 一條穿越尼加拉瓜的運河, 在這個時間點上, 對接手法國失敗的案子頗為心動。 巴拿馬的領袖也很渴望有條運河, 爲國家帶來商機和聲望。 然而,當時巴拿馬還屬於哥倫比亞, 而哥倫比亞正在拖延與美國的談判。 直覺到機會難逢, 美國總統泰迪·羅斯福 直接找巴拿馬人交涉。 有了美國的背書與軍事援助, 巴拿馬遂在 1903 年發動政變。 幾天內便宣布獨立, 同時簽訂了一份運河工程的合約。
Just over a decade after the French left, the Americans were ready to dig in— and they were determined to avoid their predecessor’s mistakes. Instead of cutting the mountain down to sea level, they would raise the sea up the mountain. The plan was to build massive steel gates separating the canal into multiple chambers with different water levels. As a ship passed through each successive gate would open, lowering the water level in the next chamber, while raising the ship and allowing it to move on. The design called for five of these so-called canal locks— three on the Atlantic side and two on the Pacific, raising traversing ships 26 meters above sea level.
此時距法國撒手走人已經十年, 美國人也準備好開挖── 而且決心避免重蹈覆轍。 與其將山夷平與海平面等高, 他們決定把海平面升高到山上。 整個計劃包括建造巨大的鋼製閘門, 將運河分割成數段 不同水位高度的閘道。 隨着船的行進,渠道閘門逐個開啓, 將相鄰渠道中的水 抽取到船所在的閘道中, 將船升高以便前行到下段閘道。 這個設計有五段運河閘道── 大西洋海岸那邊三段, 太平洋海岸兩段, 將通過的船隻升到海拔 26 米高。
Operating this lock system would require a massive reservoir of water. And fortunately, the low-lying Chagres river valley provided a natural solution. By building a dam across the gap where the river flowed out to sea, the entire valley could be flooded. At 32 meters high and over 800 meters wide, the Gatun Dam would be larger than any built before.
這個閘道系統需要巨大儲水量去運作。 所幸,查格雷斯河盆地 提供了一個天然的解決辦法。 藉由在河流的入海口處興建水壩, 就能引水將整個河谷淹沒。 規模高達 32 米, 寬度遠超過 800 米, 加通水壩是有史以來最大的水壩。
With this innovative plan, the Americans didn’t need to excavate the entire mountain, but rather, just the pathway for the canal itself. Still, the work was staggering. Even after progress made by the French, it took over nine years for 24,000 workers to blow up, shovel, and drill out the Culebra Cut— a roughly 14 kilometer passageway through the Continental Divide. The railway, now upgraded and rerouted to follow the canal, carted away over 76 million cubic meters of excavated rock to be used at the Gatun Dam site.
靠着這個創新計劃, 美國人不需挖開整個山脈, 只要挖出運河的路徑即可。 即使如此,工程規模還是浩大驚人。 除了之前法國已完工的, 工程動用了兩萬四千名工人, 花了九年時間去爆破、 鏟開、鑽出古列布拉切道── 一條長約 14 公里, 貫穿美洲大陸分水嶺的通道。 原本的鐵道也升級、改道沿著運河走, 將挖鑿出超過七千六百萬立方米的石方 運送到加通水壩的工程上用。
Construction was only half the battle. Leading army officials struggled to maintain infrastructure and sanitation, but accidents and diseases took the lives of 5,000 workers— mostly Black Caribbean migrants. Then, in the fall of 1913, the moment finally came. A telegraph signal from President Woodrow Wilson triggered a dike explosion, flooding the Culebra Cut and joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
運河的工程還只是挑戰的其中一半。 即使領頭的軍官奮力維持 基礎設施及環境衛生, 意外和疾病仍然奪走 超過五千條性命—— 多數是來自加勒比的黑人移民。 1913 年的秋天, 歷史時刻終於來臨。 伍德羅·威爾遜總統按下 引爆提防炸彈的電報信號, 瞬間淹沒古列布拉切道, 將大西洋和太平洋連接起來。
Today, nearly 14,000 vessels travel through the isthmus annually— each in under 12 hours. The canal remains Panama’s chief source of revenue; and since the country gained ownership of the passage in 1999, it has also become a source of national pride.
現在每年有近 14,000 艘船隻 通過巴拿馬地峽── 耗時不到 12 個小時。 運河始終是巴拿馬主要的收入來源。 而且自從於 1999 年 獲得運河的所有權, 它也成了巴拿馬的驕傲之一。