He was the chief engineer who realized that the Panama Canal required a series of locks to connect the two oceans.
Social Studies · College · Tue Nov 03 2020
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- The chief engineer who realized that the Panama Canal required a series of locks to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was John Frank Stevens.
- He was appointed as the chief engineer of the Panama Canal project in 1905 and played a significant role in its planning and construction stages. Stevens recognized that a sea-level canal was impractical due to the terrain and the high amount of earthwork required.
- Instead, he advocated for a lock-based canal, which would lift ships over the continental divide and then lower them again, an approach that was eventually adopted and successfully completed.