answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

No. A canal through Nicaragua was initially preferred by the US, but the Panama site was chosen after a French company acquired the rights to the canal from another bankrupted French company. An American representative of the French company, William Nelson Cromwell, persuaded the United States to take up the Panama route.

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar
More answers
User Avatar

Wiki User

9y ago

No, Panama was not the first choice to build a canal across Central America. Nicaragua was actually debated about first because of a lake in that region. Having the lake there could mean less land had to be moved.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

7y ago

No, actually Nicaragua was as the canal could have been built at sea level there and it would not have been necessary to use locks. But the route would have been much longer and the land harder to obtain.

The land for the canal in Panama was much easier to obtain: it was part of Columbia, but the people in what is now Panama did not like the Colombian government control, a little political intrigue and some "gunboat diplomacy" by the US triggered and supported a revolution allowing Panama to split from Columbia, the now small nation of Panama was easier to negotiate with for control of the land for the canal.

There were plans developed in the 1950s and early 1960s to excavate a sea level canal across Nicaragua very inexpensively with "clean" nuclear explosives. It would take roughly 50 nuclear explosive devices, which would all be detonated simultaneously, instantly producing a trench connecting the atlantic and the pacific deep enough and wide enough for the largest ships to use. Depending on how "clean" the nuclear explosives could be made it has been estimated that the wait for the fallout radioactivity to decay before the canal could be safely used by ships could be as little as several weeks to no more than a couple of years. In the 1960s this plan was abandoned, largely because of the Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty.

However Nicaragua is still seen as an ideal location for a canal, if access to the land can be negotiated and costs kept low enough.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

13y ago

The first actual canal attempt was by the French in 1880. There were proposals by the Spanish and Scottish for various methods of goods transfer and canals long before this, however.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

13y ago

The Soviet Union started the project in 1912

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

It was the most narrow part of land.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

13y ago

because the panamo was in war

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

usa

This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: Who built the panama canal at first?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

Who built the canal of panama?

United States built the Panama Canal.


Who built the panama canle first?

Teddy Roosevelt built the canal.


Who was the president wen the panama canal was built?

fredy geogasty was the president when the panama canal was built


Who discovered the Panama Canal?

No one found it. Panama Canal was built


Who biult the Panama Canal?

Ferdinand de Lesepps built the Panama Canal


What is the canal that connects the atlantic and pacific oceans in central america?

Panama. The canal is the Panama Canal, built by the US between 1904 and 1914.


Who built the fist Panama Canal?

The United States, under president Teddy Roosevelt built the Panama Canal.


What was the name of the waterway constructed by people in Panama?

It is the Panama Canal. It was originally built by the US. However Panama just completed a major improvement of the canal.


What was built in panama in the early 1900s?

The Panama Canal was built in Panama in the early 1900's


Was the panama canal built in a desert area?

No, the Panama canal was built in a mountain range, thats why the had problems with mud slides


What disease had to be conquered first before the Panama Canal could be built?

The diseases that had to be conquered first before the Panama Canal could be built are Malaria and Yellow Fever. Tens of thousands of workers fell ill from these diseases.


When was the panamal cannal built?

the brought people form all over the world to liove in panama the wst Indians first tried to built it but they failed so them the Americans tried and they succeded so that is how the panama cannal came to being