Why couldn’t they just dig a trench big enough to connect the Pacific and Atlantic instead of the lock system of the Panama Canal?

Question

Saw a post about the canal, and this question popped up.

In: 9

Answer 1

Most of the canal wasn’t built by digging a trench. It exploits the existing terrain and uses dams to raise the water level such that the existing lakes are deep enough to traverse. It would be a much much bigger job to have dug a trench the whole way – its not impossible, but it probably would still be being dug today.