Panama Canal
France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.
Panama Canal Railway
By July 1852, the company had finished of track and reached the Chagres River, where an enormous bridge had to be built. The first wooden bridge failed when the Chagres rose by over in a day and washed it away. Work was begun on a much higher, , hefty iron bridge, which took more than a year to finish. In all, the company built more than 170 more bridges and culverts.
In January 1854, excavation began at the summit of the Continental Divide at the Culebra Cut, where the earth had to be cut from to deep over a distance of about . Several months were spent digging. Later the Panama Canal required years to cut through this area deeply enough for a canal. The road over the crest of the continental divide at Culebra was finally completed from the Atlantic side in January 1855, 37 miles (60 km) of track having been laid from Aspinwall (Colón). A second team, working under less harsh conditions with railroad track, ties, railroad cars, steam locomotives, and other supplies brought around Cape Horn by ship, completed its of track from Panama City to the summit from the Pacific side of the isthmus at the same time.