Why was the Panama Canal more challenging to build than the Suez Canal?

The project was plagued by poor planning, engineering problems and tropical diseases that killed thousands of workers. De Lesseps intended to build the canal at sea level, without locks, like the Suez Canal, but the excavation process proved far more difficult than anticipated.

Was the Suez Canal easy or difficult to build?

Bellefonds performed a survey of the Isthmus of Suez and confirmed that the Mediterranean and Red seas were, contrary to popular belief, at the same level of altitude. This meant a canal without locks could be built, making construction significantly easier.

Was the Panama Canal easy or difficult to build?

Building the canal was not easy. Workers had to battle disease, mudslides, poisonous snakes, scorpions, and poor living conditions. The completion of the canal took some of the best engineering skills and innovation of the time.

Why was the Panama Canal so difficult to build?

Why was building the Panama Canal so difficult? Diseases of Malaria and Yellow fever were widespread. Construction meant cutting through a mountain, daming a river and erecting the canals locks. They had to dig a 9 mile ditch in hot sun.

What were the difficulties of building the Panama Canal?

The building of the Panama Canal involved three main problems — engineering, sanitation, and organization.

How do the Suez and Panama canals compare?

Because the Suez is much wider and deeper than the Panama Canal, it can accommodate ships with a much greater capacity, a fact ocean carriers have taken advantage of as containerships continue to grow exponentially in size over the past five years.

What difficulties did they face building the Panama Canal?

And the United States was able to proceed with building the Panama Canal. One of the biggest obstacles for the workforce was sickness. Malaria and yellow fever, spread by mosquito bites, killed more than 22,000 workers before 1889. In 1904, the United States asked Dr.