Priceonomics:

The Panama Canal, the largest construction project in history, which had literally moved mountains to link the world’s oceans, had become too small. An increasing number of container ships, tankers, battleships, and even cruise ships no longer fit through the canal. Their hulls were too wide.

The canal’s administrators and Panamanian politicians responded with a $5.25 billion plan to expand the canal. Analysts still debate how the expansion will affect world trade. But if the global flurry of construction and speculation is any indication, the expansion seems to have succeeded in placing Panama back in the center of global trade.

The engineering of the Panama Canal would be remarkable if it occurred today. But it was an even more incredible construction project when it originally opened in 1914. I hadn’t realized it was in danger of becoming irrelevant due to the massive size of today’s cruise and container ships.