Editing Panama Canal (section)

===Goethals replaces Stevens as chief engineer, 1907-1914===
[[File:George W. Goethals cph.3a02121.jpg|thumb|upright|General [[George Washington Goethals]], who completed the canal]]

In 1907, Stevens resigned as chief engineer.{{sfn |McCullough |1977 |pp=503–508}} His replacement, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt, was US Army Major [[George Washington Goethals]] of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|US Army Corps of Engineers]]. Soon to be promoted to lieutenant colonel and later to general, he was a strong, [[West Point]]-trained leader and civil engineer with experience in canals (unlike Stevens). Goethals directed the work in Panama to a successful conclusion in 1914, two years ahead of the target date of 10 June 1916.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Panama Canal: Writings of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Officers Who Conceived and Built It |url=http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA564251 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408131503/http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA564251 |archive-date=8 April 2013 |access-date=1 May 2023 |page=1 }}</ref>

Goethals divided the engineering and excavation work into three divisions: Atlantic, Central, and Pacific. The Atlantic Division, under Major [[William L. Sibert]], was responsible for construction of the massive [[Breakwater (structure)|breakwater]] at the entrance to [[Bahía Limón]], the [[Panama Canal Locks|Gatun locks]], and their {{convert|3+1/2|mi|km|adj=on}} approach channel, and the immense Gatun Dam. The Pacific Division, under Sydney B. Williamson (the only civilian member of this high-level team), was similarly responsible for the Pacific {{convert|3|mi|km|adj=on}} breakwater in [[Panama Bay]], the approach channel to the locks, and the [[Panama Canal Locks|Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks]] and their associated dams and reservoirs.{{sfn |McCullough |1977 |pp=540–542}}

The Central Division, under Major [[David du Bose Gaillard]] of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]], was assigned one of the most difficult parts: excavating the Culebra Cut through the continental divide to connect Gatun Lake to the Pacific [[Panama Canal locks]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Col. David D.B. Gaillard |url=http://www.czbrats.com/Builders/gaillard.htm |access-date=1 May 2023 |website=www.czbrats.com |archive-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001182904/http://www.czbrats.com/Builders/gaillard.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Admiralty Chart No 657 Panama Canal and Approaches, Published 1914, New Edition 1915.jpg|thumb|Nautical chart of 1915 showing the canal shortly after completion]]

On 10 October 1913, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] sent a signal from the [[White House]] by [[Electrical telegraph|telegraph]] which triggered the explosion that destroyed the Gamboa Dike. This flooded the Culebra Cut, thereby joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wilson blows up last big barrier in Panama Canal |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=1 |location=Chicago |date=11 October 1913 |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1913/10/11/page/1/article/wilson-blows-up-last-big-barrier-in-panama-canal |access-date=24 November 2015 |archive-date=25 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125183109/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1913/10/11/page/1/article/wilson-blows-up-last-big-barrier-in-panama-canal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Alexandre La Valley'' (a floating crane built by [[Lobnitz|Lobnitz & Company]] and launched in 1887) was the first self-propelled vessel to transit the canal from ocean to ocean. This vessel crossed the canal from the Atlantic in stages during construction, finally reaching the Pacific on 7 January 1914.{{sfn |McCullough |1977 |p=607}} SS ''Cristobal'' (a cargo and passenger ship built by [[Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard|Maryland Steel]], and launched in 1902 as SS ''Tremont'') on 3 August 1914, was the first ship to transit the canal from ocean to ocean.{{sfn |McCullough |1977 |p=609}}

The construction of the canal was completed in 1914, 401 years after Panama was first crossed overland by the Europeans in [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]]'s party of [[conquistador]]es. The United States spent almost $500 million (roughly equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.5|1914|r=1}} billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}){{Inflation-fn|US}} to finish the project. This was by far the largest American engineering project to date. The canal was formally opened on 15 August 1914, with the passage of the [[cargo ship]] {{SS|Ancon|1901|6}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pancanal.com/eng/history/history/index.html |title=Read our history: American Canal Construction |publisher=Panama Canal Authority |access-date=3 September 2007 |archive-date=15 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215060157/http://www.pancanal.com/eng/history/history/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 caused a [[Economic history of Chile|severe drop in traffic]] along [[Chile]]an ports due to shifts in maritime trade routes,<ref name=millan>{{Citation |last1=John Lawrence |first1=Rector |title=The History of Chile |year=2005 |page=xxvi }}</ref><ref name=Martinicfabril>{{Citation |last1=Martinic Beros |first1=Mateo |author-link1=Mateo Martinic |title=La actividad industrial en Magallanes entre 1890 y mediados del siglo XX |journal=[[Historia (history of the Americas journal)|Historia]] |volume=34 |year=2001 |url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=s0717-71942001003400004 |access-date=4 July 2014 |archive-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702001619/http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=s0717-71942001003400004 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Figueroa>{{cite journal |author1=Figueroa, Victor |author2=Gayoso, Jorge |author3=Oyarzun, Edgardo |author4=Planas, Lenia |url=http://mingaonline.uach.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-64281998000200006&lng=es&nrm=iso |title=Investigación aplicada sobre Geografía Urbana: Un caso práctico en la ciudad de Valdivia |language=es |trans-title=Applied research on Urban Geography: A practical case in the city of Valdivia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025010536/http://mingaonline.uach.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-64281998000200006&lng=es&nrm=iso |archive-date=25 October 2014 |journal=Gestión Turistica |issue=3 |pages=107–148 |doi=10.4206/gest.tur.1998.n3-06 |publisher=[[UACh]] |year=1998 |issn=0717-1811 }}</ref> despite the closure of the canal for nearly seven months after a landslide in the Culebra Cut on 18 September 1915.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Century of Progress: A Century of Slides |url=https://panama.lindahall.org/century-progress/ |website=The Land Divided, The World United |publisher=Linda Hall Library |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525155334/https://panama.lindahall.org/century-progress/ |archive-date=25 May 2022 |location=Kansa City, Missouri }}</ref> The [[Patagonian sheep farming boom|burgeoning sheep farming business in southern Patagonia]] suffered a significant setback by the change in trade routes,<ref name=Economiaovejera>{{Citation |url=http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-784.html |title=La economía ovejera en Magallanes (1876–1930) |work=[[Memoria Chilena]] |language=es |access-date=30 June 2013 |publisher=[[Biblioteca Nacional de Chile]] |archive-date=19 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019204659/http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-784.html |url-status=live }}</ref> as did the economy of the [[Falkland Islands]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Falkland Islands as a 'Strategic Gateway' |journal=The RUSI Journal |last=Dodds |first=Klaus |date=9 December 2012 |volume=157 |pages=8–25 |issue=6 |doi=10.1080/03071847.2012.750882 |s2cid=154575728 }}</ref>

Throughout this time, [[Ernest "Red" Hallen]] was hired by the [[Isthmian Canal Commission]] to document the progress of the work.

In 1914, [[steam shovel]]s from the Panama Canal were purchased and put to use in [[Chuquicamata]] copper mine of northern Chile.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mch.cl/reportajes/una-mina-centenaria/ |title=Una mina centenaria |date=6 April 2015 |access-date=2 July 2022 |website=mch.cl |last=Barros M. |first=María Celia |language=Spanish |archive-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702231012/https://www.mch.cl/reportajes/una-mina-centenaria/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px">
MarioModel90 1908.jpg|A Marion [[steam shovel]] excavating the Panama Canal, 1908
Panama Canal Lock Forms.jpeg|The Panama Canal locks under construction, 1910
SS Ancon entering west chamber cph.3b17471u.jpg|The first ship to transit the canal at the formal opening, SS ''Ancon'', passes through on 15 August 1914.
Spanish laborers on Panama Canal in early 1900s.jpg|Spanish laborers working on the Panama Canal in the early 1900s
</gallery>