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Grades 4-6

A Plan for Panama's Canal

In the small Central American country of Panama last week, an explosion blasted away part of a hillside. And then cheers and balloons went up! The blast was the first step of a plan to enlarge the Panama Canal. Politicians from several countries, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, were there to celebrate the groundbreaking.

Since 1914, the canal, a narrow man-made channel, has been a vital waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The 50-mile-long canal was the most expensive and ambitious construction project of its time. It took more than 30 years to complete. Tens of thousands of workers had to battle blistering heat, accidents and tropical diseases as they dynamited their way through rain forest-covered mountains. To allow ships to navigate the channel, engineers also built dams and lakes and created a series of huge concrete holding tanks called locks.

Before the original canal was built, a boat traveling from New York to California had to go all the way around the tip of South America. The canal cut three weeks and 9,000 miles off the journey! Back then, ocean-going ships were smaller. When the new canal is complete, today's larger ships will also be able to take the shortcut.

The work will take eight years. "We are witnesses to an exceptional and unique act," said Panama's president, MartĚn Torrijos, just after the ceremonial blast.

September 3-7: Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes slammed ashore on the same day, hitting Mexico and Nicaragua. Toymaker Mattel recalled almost 850,000 lead-tainted toys. It's the third recall in less than a month.

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