The history of the building of the Panama Canal is fascinating. For a complete detailed history of the building of the Canal, I highly recommend you take time and read "The Path Between The Seas" by David McCullough.

As we passed through the Culebra Cut (renamed the Gaillard Cut in 1915), my imagination ran wild as I pictured the workers clearing the dense jungle before the actual digging began. Just imagine the task of clearing a 50 mile long swath several hundred feet wide through the jungle by hand! The amount of dirt removed through the cut is equivalent to digging a ditch 50 feet wide and 10 feet deep from San Francisco to New York City!