Before 1914 Ships wanting to cross between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, had to travel a long journey around South America. A canal through Panama was the solution, but it proved to be a difficult task. It was only 48 miles across but terrain consisted of tough mountainous jungles that defeated the French. They had started work on the canal in the late 1800’s, but ultimately failed. Later the United States took over construction of the canal. In order to save a lot of work, they decided that an artificial lake would reduce the need for excavation by half of what an entire canal at sea level would require. Thus Lake Gatun was created by damming up the Charges River. It was the largest dam and artificial lake of that time. The lake is
