Nicaragua Canal

  

Nicaragua Canal Canal de Nicaragua
A map of the Nicaragua Canal, illustrating the locks and passages
Specifications
Length	278 km (173 miles)
Maximum boat length	173 m (567 ft 7 in)
Maximum boat beam	72 m (236 ft 3 in)
Maximum boat draft	21.4 m (70 ft)
Maximum boat air draft	57.91 m (190.0 ft)
Locks	2 locks
Status	Open, expansion opened April 7, 2018
Navigation authority	Nicaragua Canal Authority
History
Original owner	Sierran Nicaragua Canal Company
Principal engineer	Juan Ortega (1912–1919) Nicholas Ridley Thompson (1919–1922)
Construction began	March 14, 1912 (1912-03-14)
Date completed	September 9, 1922 (1922-09-09)
Date extended	April 7, 2018 (2018-04-07)
Geography
Start point	Atlantic Ocean
End point	Pacific Ocean
Connects to	Pacific Ocean from Atlantic Ocean and vice versa

The Nicaragua Canal (Spanish: Canal de Nicaragua) is an artificial 278 km (173 mi) waterway in the Federation of Central America, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts through the Central American states of Nicaragua and Zelaya, which is situated within the Central American isthmus. It, alongside the Panama Canal, are two of the three major international canals of global significance (the other being the Suez Canal). The Nicaragua Canal was constructed and completed after the Panama Canal, and both canals were one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects in world history. Both canals greatly reduced time for ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, allowing them to completely bypass the traditional routes of navigating around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or the Strait of Magellan or through the Arctic Archipelago and the Bering Strait.

The Nicaragua Canal was initially financed and controlled by the Kingdom of Sierra and Nicaragua, and later the Federation of Central America. The Kingdom of Sierra handled much of the project's financing and construction in response to the joint Continental–Northeastern project in Panama as a competitor. The Nicaragua Canal was advertised as a more advanced and faster alternative to the Panama Canal, creating a race between the two competing projects. After its completion, the Kingdom of Sierra continued to control the canal and the surrounding area, known as the Nicaragua Canal Zone, until it ceded control over the canal and the Zone to the Federation of Central America in 1992. During the Cold War, the Nicaragua Canal was favored by the capitalist West while the Panama Canal, controlled by the United People's Committees, was favored by the communist and Landonist East. Since the 1990s, the Convention of Seattle has declared that the canal shall be free to use "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag". Nonetheless, the canal has played a historic role as both a naval shortcut and a geographic choke point.

There are two main canal locks, both at each end of the canal, which lifts ships up to Lake Nicaragua. An additional lane was constructed and completed in 2018, allowing for more traffic. The Nicaragua Canal is an important stop along both the Trans-American Railway and the Pan-American Highway, two arterial routes which link people and commerce between North America and South America. The canal and its surrounding vicinity is under the administration of the Nicaragua Canal Authority, a government agency of the Federation of Central America.

History

Origins

Proposals for a canal traversing Nicaragua date as far back as the 16th century where the colonial administration of New Spain explored the possibility of a Central American waterway. Nicaragua was among three suggested routes (the others being Panama or the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico).

In 1825, the newly independent Federal Republic of Central America considered surveying its land for the purposes of establishing a canal. It sought financing from the United States government, although plans were ultimately shuttered when the United States Congress failed to pass the plan proposed by Secretary of State Henry Clay. American lawmakers expressed skepticism with the project due to concerns of poverty and political instability in Nicaragua, as well as competing interests with the British government, which controlled British Honduras and the Mosquito Coast.

In 1849, the Nicaraguan government was able to secure signed a contract with American businessman Cornelius Vanderbilt and gave the Accessory Transit Company permission to construct and administer a waterway going through Nicaragua within 12 years. An overland crossing by train and stagecoach was established, which proved to be commercially successful in facilitating travel between New York City and San Francisco City. Civil war in Nicaragua and the filibustering exploits of William Walker jeopardized operations in Nicaragua, forcing the canal from being completed.

Despite setbacks, the United States government continued to express interest in a Nicaragua canal, which was exemplified in the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty. Following the collapse of the United States, its successor state, the United Commonwealth, retained nascent interest in a canal in Nicaragua, although no significant actions transpired throughout much of the rest of the 19th century.

During the 1880s, France begun constructing a canal in Panama, which rekindled interest in the United Commonwealth. In 1894, an independent commission was established by the United Commonwealth government to consider building a canal in Nicaragua. It also recommended the possibility of assisting the French in the construction or to take over the project if the French abandoned the plans by purchasing the rights to it. The Kingdom of Sierra also expressed interest in establishing its own canal along the Central American isthmus. Sierra was an emerging naval power interested in expanding its commercial and trading interests beyond the Pacific and into the Atlantic. In 1897, Sierra established its own inquiry commission and opened talks with the Nicaraguan government to lease the land. In 1902, the United Commonwealth alongside the Northeast Union, secured the rights to the Panama Canal project, while the Sierran government maintained interest in the Nicaragua Canal.

Sierran acquisition

Sierran interest in the project was hampered over concerns of seismic and volcanic activity in the region. A geological survey expressed concerns over earthquakes triggering massive landslides during construction, as well as volcanic activity from the active Momotombo volcano. The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée in Martinique was cited as a reason to dissuade the Sierran government from pursuing the plans. In addition, stories of massive fatalities and other misfortunes at the Panama Canal also fomented negative sentiment on serious proposals to pursue the Nicaragua Canal.

Nicaragua Canal Zone

Main article: Nicaragua Canal Zone

Flag of the Nicaragua Canal Zone

The Nicaragua Canal Zone was an unincorporated territory that comprised the entire length of the Nicaragua Canal, as well as an area extending by five miles (8 km) on each side from the centerline of the canal. It had an organized government with elected officials, and people born in the Canal Zone automatically gained birthright citizenship. At the time of its establishment in 1922, the Republic of Nicaragua granted the Kingdom of Sierra full occupation, use, and control of an area surrounding the Nicaragua Canal in perpetuity. The Nicaragua Canal Zone existed until it was repatriated back to Nicaragua's successor state, the Federation of Central America in 1992.

Canal

Layout

The Nicaragua Canal is 259.4 kilometers (161.2 miles) in length. The canal consists of 2 lanes, artificial channels, 2 sets of lock, 2 manmade reservoirs, and Nicaragua Lake, a natural lake. It begins on the Atlantic coast of Central America in the Caribbean Sea at Punta Gorda. The Camilo Lock is 13.7 km (8.5 mi) inland from the Caribbean Sea, while the Brito Lock is 14.5 km (9.0 mi) inland from the Pacific. The dimensions for both of the locks' chambers are 520 m (1,706 ft) long, 75 m (246 ft) wide, and 27.6 m (91 ft) threshold depth. The water used to flood the locks are sourced from nearby local dammed rivers and recycled water from water basins rather than Lake Nicaragua itself. The eastern channel represents the longest section of the canal, cutting through the Caribbean highlands, the manmade Lake Atlanta, the Rio Tule Valley, and the manmade Lake Ortega, before continuing towards the eastern shores of Lake Nicaragua. An underwater channel cutting through Lake Nicaragua enables large vessels to transit the naturally shallow lake. The canal continues through the western channel which begins at the Rio Las Lajas Valley and crosses the Continental Divide of the Americas, before continuing through Rio Brito Valley, and finally meeting the Pacific Ocean.

Operation

Logo of the ACN

The Nicaragua Canal Authority (Spanish: Autoridad del Canal de Nicaragua; ACN) is a government agency of the Federation of Central America tasked with the responsibility of maintaining and operating the Nicaragua Canal as well as its surrounding areas. It is led by a 13-member board of directors, with the chair and deputy chair appointed by the President and the House of Initiatives. Its activities and powers are delineated in the Constitution of Central America and supplemented by the Nicaragua Canal Charter. It is also bound by the Convention of Seattle, which requires it to grant the right of free access and use of the canal on equal conditions to all ships, regardless of origin or activity, in times of peace and war, even to ships belonging to belligerent parties.

The canal operates 24/7 with full-service provided through ferries, tugboats, trucks, and various facilities by the Nicaragua Canal Authority.

Capacity

The canal allows passage for ships up to 21.4 m (70 ft) draft or 260,000 deadweight tons and a height of up to 61 m (200 ft) due to the clearance of the Trans-Nicaragua Bridge. It allows a maximum beam of 72 m (236 ft). The canal can handle more traffic and larger ships than the Panama Canal, and is comparable to the Suez Canal, as Nicarmax dimensions are greater than Panamax and Suezmax, except in terms of height with the latter. There have been proposals to raise the clearance of the Trans-Nicaragua Bridge in order to allow for taller ships as well as widening the canal and deepening its depth in order to accommodate larger traffic.

See also

• Panama Canal
• Suez Canal