Plans of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique (1883)

Official plans of the main construction sites of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique de Panama, dated June 1, 1883. The document shows six detailed sections of the French canal route: Colón, Bohío Soldado, San Pablo, Gorgona, Bas Obispo, and Emperador and Culebra. Areas marked in red indicate the planned excavation zones for the sea-level canal that Ferdinand de Lesseps attempted to build. These plans are testimony to the ambitious but failed French attempt to build a canal through Panama, an enterprise that would eventually be completed by the United States with a lock-based design.