The Panama Canal (1958)

foreign these massive gates of one of the most vital trade highways in the world open many times each day for cargo ships of all nations thousands of ships carrying over 45 million tons of cargo pass through this area each year saving thousands of miles and hundreds of hours on their sea journeys for this is part of the panama canal which connects two great oceans the canal is 50 miles long 50 miles of complex man-made waterway supervised from buildings like this by skilled men some handle the intricate controls that operate the canal machinery others supervise the ship traffic for centuries men dreamed of a panama canal uniting the atlantic and pacific oceans in the 1500s spain dreamed of linking her many new world colonies by joining the oceans ships might sail from ocean to ocean without making the long voyage around cape horn the place to build a water passage or canal seemed to be across the narrow isthmus of panama but all spanish attempts failed there remained only one way to ship goods by water from east to west around cape horn a long trip of three to nine months in the eighteen hundreds the united states began to grow people by the thousands moved westward but the trip overland from east to west was dangerous and often took over three months to shorten this journey american businessmen built a railroad to carry passengers and goods across the isthmus of panama to waiting ships but a canal would be a better way of crossing the isthmus in 1881 ferdinand de lesseps the great french engineer attempted to overcome the problems of building a panama canal the mountains of central panama were the main block in the path of the proposed canal de lesseps french company planned to cut through this blockade but the plan could not be carried out besides the mountains there was the jungle with its dread diseases dense vegetation and stifling heat and humidity here drinking water turned bad and food rotted forty thousand workmen died in the french effort to build the canal the french attempt was carefully watched by the united states in the early nineteen this country realized that its growing naval and merchant fleets had to be moved easily from ocean to ocean meeting here in panama city the government of panama gave the united states permission to build the canal and to use occupy and control a 10 mile wide strip of land called the canal zone these historic films of the canal zone show how hundreds of workers who came by train loads built the canal large areas of jungle brush were cleared away mountains of rock were drilled and blasted away to make place for the canal huge steam shovels cleared gigantic piles of rubble moved thousands of tons of blasted rock thus the americans moved the mountains of panama to make way for the canal much of this work was supervised by george washington goethals a united states army engineer also important was the contribution of dr william gorgas who directed the successful fight in overcoming health and sanitation problems dr gorgas had pools and swamps drained to destroy the mosquitoes that carried deadly yellow fever the work continued by 1907 tons of concrete were being mixed and poured as the canal slowly took shape finally after seven years of intensive work american engineers completed the great task of building the canal in 1915 the first cargo ships went through the canal the waters of the atlantic and pacific oceans had been joined today the panama canal remains a vital link for sea travel between two great oceans this ship is in one of the locks or steps that make up the canal by speeding the camera action we can see how the locks are operated small heavy duty locomotives tow the ships into the locks once the ship has entered the gates of the locks are closed the lock is now filled with water as the water level rises the ship is raised to the water level of the next lock this is only one of six locks that make up the panama canal three joining locks raise ships from the sea level of one ocean to a height of 85 feet at this point ship sail across gatun lake an artificial lake across the highest parts of central panama another series of locks lowers ships to the sea level of the opposite ocean the panama canal is such a time saver that ships of many nations can always be seen at its entrances this is the pacific ocean entrance though we live in an air age seed transportation continues because it is economical by using the canal sea transport costs are kept to a minimum this ship from tokyo japan for instance will save over 5 500 miles and 20 days sailing time on its way to new orleans to pass through the canal each ship is charged a fee according to size and amount of cargo a civilian canal zone pilot is making arrangements to guide this ship the hiberius through the canal let's go along from the pacific entrance of the canal we see panama city it has thrived on the business of the canal panama city is a growing center of trade and industry near panama city and at other points along the canal are the neat pleasant homes belonging to the families of united states canal zone workers and officials now we are starting our eight-hour trip to the atlantic as we enter the first lock the ship's tow lines are attached to electric locomotives the locomotives pull our ship farther into the lock the lock gates close in the control room an engineer operates the machinery that floods the lock of the thirty four hundred employees of the panama canal company more than three thousand are united states citizens the united states alone is responsible for the operation of the canal open to ships of all nations continuing toward the atlantic we see the ship world traveler which reminds us that ships go both ways through the canal in the next lock we see a large ship of the united states navy the panama canal is strategically important in moving american naval vessels from ocean to ocean after being lifted by three locks we sail between the massive rock walls of gaylard cut these mountains are part of the continental divide the highest point through which the canal is cut as we move toward the atlantic the canal widens into gatun lake this is an artificial lake created in the valleys of the mountains of central panama there's often a traffic problem on the lake as ships line up to be admitted into the atlantic locks of the canal the lake itself is backed up by huge gatun dam this dam is used to store water for filling some of the locks it is also the source of hydroelectric power that operates the locks on the atlantic side of the canal largest of these atlantic side locks are the gatun locks these are the last locks on our canal trip toward the atlantic ocean in the distance we can see the city of cologne another of the panama cities developing along the canal passing cologne and entering the waters of the atlantic ends our trip through the panama canal this is the canal that joins the oceans and increases the exchange of goods and the friendly relations between nations this is the panama canal vital link in the commerce of our world you