Since the 1500s when the King of Spain wanted to bring gold from the Pacific to the Atlantic, men dreamed of a short route from the Pacific to the Atlantic. That was the goal: to enable ships to easily and quickly get from one ocean to the other.

Hi Brittney,

the main goal and only goal to construct the Panama Canal was to connect the Atlantic with the Pacific oceans and cut the transit time of ships but not going around South America.

Shorten transit time for ships to travel from east to west.