Gaillard Cut (Culebra Cut), Panamá Canal

 

Gaillard Cut is an artificial valley that cuts through the Continental Divide in Panamá. The cut forms part of the Panamá Canal, linking Lake Gatún, and thereby the Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Panamá and hence the Pacific Ocean. Construction of the cut was one of the great engineering feats of its time. The digging began on January 22, 1881 and finished in May 1913.