Goethals, “The engineering problems involved digging through the Continental Divide; constructing the largest earth dam ever built up to that time; designing and building the most massive canal locks ever envisioned; constructing the largest gate ever swung; and solving environmental problems of enormous proportion” (History Overview 1).
The U.S. was able to purchase the rights to the canal project from the French for the greatly reduced sum of $40 million and the engineering and administrative skills of John Stevens, Colonel Goethals and William C. Gorgas were instrumental in the successful completion of the canal (Encarta 1). Before either Stevens or Goethals would have much of an opportunity to construct the canal, a major health problem in the area was the challenge presented to William C. Gorgas. The nature of the construction begun by the French enabled the area to become a hotbed for mosquitoes carrying malaria and yellow fever. In the early 1880s, the French brought more than 25,000 men and equipment of all kinds to begin the great
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