How did geographic conditions in panama make it difficult to build a canal there?

Answer 1

From the start, the project was plagued by difficulties. Rain, landslides, escalating costs, fraud, inadequate machinery, and the dread plagues of yellow fever and malaria doomed the project. All work stopped in 1889.

In 1904 the United States began the task of carving a canal through the isthmus. The engineering difficulties involved in cutting through the Isthmus of Panama were enormous. After years of digging and construction, and the expenditure of more than $300 million, the Panama Canal was officially opened in 1914.

Answer 2

From the start, the project was plagued by difficulties. Rain, landslides, escalating costs, fraud, inadequate machinery, and the dread plagues of yellow fever and malaria doomed the project. All work stopped in 1889.

In 1904 the United States began the task of carving a canal through the isthmus. The engineering difficulties involved in cutting through the Isthmus of Panama were enormous. After years of digging and construction, and the expenditure of more than $300 million, the Panama Canal was officially opened in 1914.

Answer 3

Geographic conditions in Panama that made it difficult to build a canal there including heat, jungle, insects (especially mosquitoes) and other tropical issues.

ADDED: The primary physical difficulty was not its being in the tropics (though malaria was a very serious problem) but the Isthmus it crosses being a high ridge. The French tried to cut through at sea-level but this mistake bankrupted them. The Americans who took it over succeeded by using locks to go over the hill, feeding the canal from streams flowing from higher ground along its route.