Archive Gallery: First Looks at Favorite Architecture and Structures

After a failed attempt by the French, U.S. construction on the Panama Canal began in 1904 and ended in 1914. President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned George Washington Goethals as Chief Engineer, while Ellicott Dredges developed machines that could cut through the seabed. Two years after the canal formally opened, we published a story on Colonel Goethals' efforts to prevent erosion. Workers used the Cascadas dredge, pictured left, to scoop out excess earth from the canal's problem areas. Engineers in Germany designed the backhoe-equipped machine especially for use in the Panama Canal. In 1916, the Cascadas was the world's largest all-steel dredge and could dig out seventeen thousand wagonloads of dirt in a day.

Read the full story in "Digging Away the Slides at Panama"