THE PANAMA CANAL 



335 



soon as possible. It was agreed at that 

 time that the change in plan did not con- 

 template abandonment of the sea-level 

 canal, which was ultimately to be secured, 

 but merely its postponement for the time 

 being. In this new plan the summit level 

 was placed above the flood line of the 

 Chagres River, to be supplied with water 

 from that stream by pumps. Work was 

 pushed forward until 1889, when the 

 company went into bankruptcy ; and on 

 February 4 that year a liquidator was ap- 

 pointed to take charge of its affairs. 

 Work was suspended on May 15, 1889. 

 The New Panama Canal Company was 

 organized in October, 1894, when work 

 was again resumed, on the plan recom- 

 mended by a commission of engineers. 



This plan contemplated a sea-level 

 canal from Limon Bay to Bohio, where 

 a dam across the valley created a lake 

 extending to Bas Obispo, the difference 

 in level being overcome by two locks ; 

 the summit level extended from Bas 

 Obispo to Paraiso, reached by two more 

 locks, and was supplied with water by a 

 feeder from an artificial reservoir created 

 by a dam at Alhajuela, in the upper 

 Chagres Valley. Four locks were located 

 on the Pacific side, the two middle ones at 

 Pedro Miguel combined in a flight. 



A second or alternative plan was pro- 

 posed at the same time, by which the 

 summit level was to be a lake formed 

 by the Bohio dam, fed directly by the 

 Chagres. Work was continued on this 

 plan until the rights and property of the 

 new company were purchased by the 

 United States. 



the: united states become interested 



The United States, not unmindful of 

 the advantages of an isthmian canal, had 

 from time to time made investigations 

 and surveys of the various routes. With 

 a view to government ownership and con- 

 trol Congress directed an investigation of 

 the Nicaraguan Canal, for which a con- 

 cession had been granted to a private 

 company. The resulting report brought 

 about such a discussion of the advantages 

 of the Panama route to the Nicaraguan 

 route that by an act of Congress, ap- 



proved March 3, 1889, a commission was 

 appointed to — 



"make full and complete investigation of the 

 Isthmus of Panama, with a view to the con- 

 struction of a canal ... to connect the 

 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . . . and par- 

 ticularly to investigate the two routes known 

 respectively as the Nicaragua route and the 

 Panama route, with a view to determining the 

 most practicable and feasible route for such 

 canal, together with the approximate and prob- 

 able cost of constructing a canal at each of the 

 two or more of said routes." 



The commission reported on Novem- 

 ber 16, 1901, in favor of Panama, and 

 recommended the lock type of canal. 

 The plan consisted of a sea-level section 

 from Colon to Bohio, where a dam across 

 the Chagres Valley created a summit 

 level 82 to 90 feet above the sea, reached 

 by two locks. The lake or summit level 

 extended from Bohio to Pedro Miguel r 

 where two locks connected it with a pool 

 28 feet above mean tide, extending to 

 Miraflores, the location of the final lock. 

 The ruling bottom width of the canal 

 prism was fixed at 150 feet, increased at 

 the curves and in the submerged chan- 

 nels. In Panama Bay the width was 

 fixed at 200 feet, and in the artificial 

 channel in Limon Bay 500 feet was 

 adopted, with turning places 800 feet 

 wide. The minimum depth was 35 feet r 

 and the locks were to have usable lengths 

 of 740 feet and widths of 84 feet. The 

 commission assessed the value of the 

 rights, franchises, concessions, lands, un- 

 finished work, plans, and other property, 

 including the 'railroad of the New Pan- 

 ama Canal Company, at $40,000,000. 



By act of Congress, approved June 28 y 

 1902, the President of the United States 

 was authorized to acquire, at a cost not 

 exceeding $40,000,000, the property 

 rights of the New Panama Canal Com- 

 pany on the Isthmus of Panama, and 

 also to secure from the Republic of Co- 

 lombia perpetual control of a strip of 

 land not less than 6 miles wide, extend- 

 ing from the Caribbean Sea to the Pa- 

 cific Ocean, and — ■ 



"the right ... to excavate, construct, and 

 to perpetually maintain, operate, and protect 

 thereon a canal of such depth and capacity as 



