A TRANSISTHMIAN SEA-LEVEL CANAL FOR CENTRAL AMERICA: PROPOSALS AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

By the end of this century the Panama Canal will have reached its maximum capacity of 50,000 ship transits a year. If the needs of future inter-oceanic commerce are to be met it is imperative that a new and expanded waterway across the Isthmus of Central America be created. A sea-level type canal would best serve the demands of twenty-first century shipping. Two techniques are feasible for such a project: conventional and nuclear excavation. Each technique boasts of certain advantages over the other, the conventional being safer while the nuclear is faster and cheaper. Five routes have been scrutinized as a potential canal site. Prior to any final determination of either digging procedure or route location, problems such as safety, regional ecology, canal currents, and diplomatic and political agreements must be resolved—with 1985 looming as the latest judicious date to commence excavation.