page_title: Bridge of the Americas
section_title: The Bridge Project
hierarchical_section_title: Bridge of the Americas / History / The Bridge Project
caption_attribution_description: English: View on Brigde of the Americas, coming from the Pacific Ocean Nederlands: Zicht op Bridge of the Americas, komend van de Stille Oceaan op het toegangskanaal naar de Miraflores sluis
context_page_description: The Bridge of the Americas is a road bridge in Panama, which spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. Designed by Sverdrup & Parcel, it was completed in 1962 at a cost of US$20 million, connecting the north and south American land masses. Two other bridges cross the canal: the Atlantic Bridge at the Gatun locks and the Centennial Bridge.
context_section_description: The idea of a permanent bridge over the canal had been proposed as a major priority as early as 1923.  Subsequent administrations of Panama pressed this issue with the United States, which controlled the Canal Zone; and in 1955 the Remón-Eisenhower treaty committed the United States to building a bridge.
  A contract worth $20,000,000 was awarded to John F. Beasly & Company who built the bridge out of steel and reinforced concrete, and the project was initiated in a ceremony which took place on December 23, 1958, in the presence of United States Ambassador Julian Harrington, and Panamanian President Ernesto de la Guardia Navarro. Construction began on October 12, 1959, and took nearly two and a half years to complete.
  The inauguration of the bridge took place on October 12, 1962, with great ceremony. The ribbon was cut by Maurice H. Thatcher, after which those present were allowed to walk across the bridge. The ceremony was given full nationwide coverage on radio and television; significant precautions were taken to manage the large crowds of people present. These proved inadequate, however, and pro-Panamanian protesters disrupted the ceremony, even removing the memorial plaques on the bridge.
caption: View on Bridge of the Americas
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-FZ8", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.1.0", "Image DateTime": "2009:03:16 13:53:31", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "648", "Image XPTitle": "[67, 0, 114, 0, 117, 0, 105, 0, 115, 0, 105, 0, 110, 0, 103, 0, 32, 0, 80, 0, ... ]", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "Image FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "78", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "Image GainControl": "None", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "7922", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4206", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Landscape Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:03:16 13:53:31", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:03:16 13:53:31", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-33/50", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3072", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2048", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}