In 1903, Panama and the United States signed a treaty by which the United States undertook to build an interoceanic channel of ships through l' isthmus of Panama. L' following year, the United States bought at the Canal French company its rights and properties for 40 million dollars and began construction. The monumental project was completed in ten years at a cost d' approximately 387 million dollars. Since 1903, the United States invested approximately 3 billion dollars in l' undertaken channel, approximately two thirds of what was recovered. The construction of Panama Canal comprised three main issues - l' engineering, l' cleansing, and l' organization.
Its success is due mainly to the technical and administrative training of the men like John F. Stevens and colonel George W. Goethals, and to the solution of the considerable health issues by the colonel William C. Gorgas.

The problems engineering causes some to excavate in the dividing line, the construction of most dam of the Earth ever built jusqu' at this moment, design and the construction of the most massive channel ever considered locks, the construction of the more important doors ever balanced and to solve the environmental problems d' a gigantic width. Now, more than 80 years after the first civil servant of l' ocean with l' ocean of transit of the inland waterway, the United States and Panama engaged in a partnership for management, l' exploitation and the defense of Panama Canal.
Under the terms of two new treaties signed with a ceremony with the seat of l' OAS with Washington, cd., September 7,1977, the channel will be exploited jusqu' at the end of the century according to methods aiming at reinforcing the bonds d' friendship and of co-operation between the two countries. The treaties were approved by Panama at the time d' a plebiscite on October 23, 1977, and the American Senate delivered its opinion and the assent to their ratificaton in Mars and April 1978. The new treaties came into effect October 1,1979.

The Commission of Panama Canal, an agency of the US government, will exploit the channel for the period of 20 year of transition which started with l' application of the treaty of Panama Canal on October 1, 1979. The Commission is supervised by a jury of nine members binational.
For the first 10 years, an American citizen was the chief of the direction, under the title d' administrator and of Panama was deputy minister. Effective January 1,1990, as elected by the treaty, a Panamanian serves d' administrator and a citizen of the United States east l' associated. The Commission replaced l' old Company of Panama Canal, which, with the canal zone and of its government, was bound Articles, on October 1, 1979.
On December 31, 1999, like l' require the treaty, the United States will transfer Panama Canal. The Commission remains given to serve the world commerce with the standards d' excellence which was the tradition of the inland waterway through its history. With a careful investment in l' maintenance, modernization and the training programs, the channel remains a viable Palestinian State, l' economic artery of transport for the world commerce in l' future.