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”.
