The creation of the Panama Canal was much more than an unprecedented feat of engineering. It was a historic event of great importance and a human drama of great magnitude, similar to that of a war. Outside of wars, it represented the largest and most expensive effort ever undertaken on earth. It has held worldwide attention for 40 years because of all the effort put into it and the problems that had to be solved to complete this major global project (Ayers et al 610). This has affected the lives of several nationalities. Great reputations were both built and destroyed. This global project involved many men and women who worked and tackled this creation as the adventure of their lives (Hammond 64). The original reason the Panama Canal was planned and built was due to a man named Vasco Nunez de Balboa. The existence of an isthmus, a narrow strip of land bordered by water on each side, between the two great seas, was discovered by this Spanish explorer. Balboa, the first European to see the expanse of the Pacific Ocean in 1513, was also the first to see the possibility of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (Ochoa 78-81). Before the canal project began, the land area was surveyed and the Spanish built a road, the Royal Route, across Panama to connect the two large bodies of water. This road was completed in 1522. Word spread quickly and the idea of ​​a canal project to connect the two seas was born. People in many countries began to dream of building and completing such a canal across Central America. Before a canal was built, a railroad was built during the California Gold Rush that began in 1849. When gold was discovered in California, thousands of people headed to the west to dig fortunes for the... middle of paper.... ..strous. These landslides were caused by heavy rains which often caused the hollowed-out hills to give way, leading to massive landslides. Workers fought their way across the continent with dynamite and steam shovels. These engineering maneuvers were slow and lengthy, but were carried out successfully (McCullough 106-108). It took 33 years to complete the canal. This effort resulted in the construction of a canal that serves as a vital commercial and military waterway. Many people had supported the need for this canal for war/defense, travel and trade purposes. This route allowed ships to travel between Atlantic and Pacific ports without sailing around South America, saving a distance of over 7,800 miles. The construction of this canal represented not only a major technical achievement, but also a political and economic victory for the United States (Winkelman 157).