CIPA 2003 XIX th International Symposium, 30 September - 04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey 
by 1846 the principle of a canal for all nations was 
embodied by the United States as the most prominent 
maritime nation of the Americas. 
A first step was taken in 1855 with the construction of 
the ocean-to-ocean railroad, and secondly in 1881, 
when a sea level canal got started by the world’s chief 
canal-builder, Ferdinand De Lesseps. After four years 
the French Canal Company was in serious financial 
trouble, not just because of all the bad management, 
but also owing to the yellow fever and the imperative 
decision to turn the original sea-level design to a lock 
canal plan. In November 1903, immediately after the 
separation from Colombia, the negotiation of a treaty 
between the USA and the Republic of Panama was 
begun at once by secretary Hay and Bunau-Varilla, the 
Panamanian council, and was completed and signed 
by them in Washington on Nov 18. Under its 
provisions the United States guaranteed the 
independence of the Republic of Panama and, in return 
for the payment of $10 million dollars made on the 
date of the exchange of ratifications, and for an annual 
payment of $250,000 beginning nine years after that 
date, the Republic of Panama granted in perpetuity to 
the USA a strip of territory ten miles wide and 
extending three marine miles into the sea at either 
terminal. 
The President of the United States was directly in 
charge of the whole operation through Isthmian Canal 
Commissions and, during 96 years, many Divisions 
and Departments where established to carry out the 
construction and governance of the Canal Zone. 
Locally (in Panama) and overseas (in Washington, 
DC) various offices were established under several 
names: the Isthmian Canal Commission, the Panama 
Canal, the Panama Canal Company, and the Panama 
Canal Commission. 
AUTHORITY OF THE PANAMA CANAL, ACP 
Today, the Authority of the Panama Canal is the 
autonomous agency of the Government of Panama in 
charge of managing, operating and maintaining the 
Panama Canal. This was the result of the CARTER- 
TORRIJOS Treaty of 1977 which gave the 
Panamanians full responsibility for the Canal at noon, 
eastern-time, December 31, 1999. 
HABS/HAER/HALS 
The Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic 
American Engineering Record/Historic American 
Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) is an 
integral component of the federal government's 
commitment to historic preservation. The program 
documents important cultural sites throughout the 
United States and its territories. It was established in 
1933 as a program within the National Park Service 
and in 1934 an agreement between the Library of 
Congress and the American Institute of Architects was 
signed. 
Complete sets of HABS/HAER/HALS documentation 
consist of measured drawings, large-format 
photographs and written histories, inteipreting through 
its built environment America's diverse ethnic and 
cultural heritage. To insure that such evidence is not 
lost to future generations, the HABS/HAER/HALS 
collections are archived at the Library of Congress, 
where they are made available to the public as 
reference materials or they can be accessed on-line. 
US/ICOMOS 
The U.S. National Committee of the International 
Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS) runs 
an International Summer Intern Program created in 
1984. To date, 413 young professionals in historic 
preservation from the U.S. and 52 other countries have 
completed internships under this exchange program, 
fostering heritage conservation and historic 
preservation at the national and international levels 
through education and training and international 
exchange of people and information. 
THE PROJECT 
The purpose of the project was to produce a new set of 
information that would interpret the physical 
configuration of the canal’s construction as built at the 
beginning of the twentieth century, and become an 
essential tool for the conservation of the mechanical 
engineering systems, several of which have already 
been replaced by new technology. We were aware that 
this process would include tangible as well as 
intangible evidence, which contributed to the main 
objective: the creation of a documentation that would 
form an understanding of this engineering heritage and 
its related values. 
The strategy of this documentation process was to be 
merely INTERPRETIVE; we were completely aware 
that construction drawings do not communicate in a 
language that people in general are trained to 
understand, and part of our goal was to help people 
understand. As Paul H. Risk, of Yale University, 
defines interpretation “the translation of the technical 
or unfamiliar language of the environment into a lay 
language, with no loss in accuracy, in order to create 
and enhance sensitivity, awareness, understanding, 
appreciation and commitment. For Risk, “the goal of 
interpretation is a change in behavior of those whom 
we interpret”.