“Witness a seemingly impossible feat: to cut through Panama’s hostile terrain and join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans”

The Panama Canal is considered one of the wonders of the modern world. It ranks among the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th Century and was championed by US President Theodore Roosevelt.

Of the many men who worked on the project, Dr William Gorgas and John Stevens stand out for their extraordinary achievements in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The Canal could not have been built without the tenacity these unsung heroes, who battled deadly disease and hostile jungle terrain to finish this wonder.

Panama Canal: The Mountain and the Mosquito features rare archival footage and re-creations to show how the Panama Canal was cut to join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans together.
One of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th Century, the Panama Canal was completed in 1914, capping the extraordinary triumphs and tragedies involved in its construction.

The Panama Canal Zone used to be a territory within Panama, administered by the United States under a 1903 treaty with Panama. The zone included the Panama Canal and an area extending 5 miles on each side.
Under the terms of a later treaty (1977), the zone was abolished in 1979 and returned to Panamanian rule; the Canal itself was ceded to Panama in 1999.  
The physical areas of the Canal are: Gatun Lake, where Barro Colorado Island is located in the middle of the lake, Galliard Cut, the Locks, Balboa & Cristobal and Gamboa.

The Canal is amazing. The lock-and-lake waterway remains one of mankind’s greatest endeavours and the Canal is an engineering marvel. At times, a ship will squeeze through the locks with less than a meter to spare on each side!

In this documentary, share the drama as daring adventurers from 97 countries attempt a seemingly impossible feat: to cut through Panama’s hostile terrain and join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

By succeeding, they would halve the distance of coast-to coast water travel - but formidable obstacles had to be conquered:

• see workers travel through deadly swamps and risk their lives to blast apart enormous boulders blocking their way
• witness the massive fumigation campaign to wipe out the dreaded yellow fever and rampant malaria
• marvel as these determined men find an extraordinary way to move the ocean waters up and over impassable mountains.

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close-up photo of DVD

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