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VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.Today, we finish our series of programs about the Wonders of theWorld. In earlier programs, we told about ancient structures andbeautiful natural places. Today we tell about modern structures thatare Wonders of the World.

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VOICE ONE:

Any list of modern wonders should include some of the buildingsin the great cities of the world. An example in New York City is theEmpire State Building. For many years, it was the tallest buildingin the world. Today, the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois and thePetronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are taller.

These buildings are important to any list. However, the modernwonders we have selected have changed history. They are importantbecause they made life safer or easier or were useful to a greatnumber of people. We begin with two similar structures in two verydifferent parts of the world.

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More than three thousand years ago, an ancient king of Egyptordered that a river be built to connect the Mediterranean Sea andthe Red Sea. This kind of man-made river is called a canal.

Ancient evidence shows the workwas done and a canal was built. Experts believe it was possible forsmall boats of that time to travel from the Mediterranean Sea to theRed Sea. Some evidence shows the Nile River may have been used forpart of the canal. However, the ancient people of Egypt did not keepthis canal in use. As years passed, the sands of the great desertsof Egypt closed the small canal.

As the centuries passed, many people thought it would be a goodidea to rebuild the canal. The problem was the huge cost. But thecost could not be compared to the cost of a ship that had to sailfrom ports on the Atlantic Ocean to ports in Asia. Ships had to sailaround the Cape of Good Hope, the most southern part of thecontinent of Africa.

VOICE ONE:

A French engineer planned and directed the modern canalconnecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. His name wasFerdinand de Lesseps. Egyptian workers began building the canal ineighteen fifty-nine.

It was opened and named the Suez Canal during a ceremony onNovember seventeenth, eighteen sixty-nine. The Suez Canal is aboutone hundred sixty-three kilometers long and about sixty meters wide.

The Suez Canal has been closed several times because of war orpolitical problems. Today, the Suez Canal is still important. Shipspay money to use the canal. That money is important to the economyof Egypt. The canal saves shipping companies a great deal of timeand money because it is the fastest crossing from the Atlantic Oceanto the Indian Ocean.

VOICE TWO:

Our next Modern Wonder of the World is also a canal -- the PanamaCanal. It connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. Beforeit was built, ships often had to spend several weeks travelingaround Cape Horn at the end of South America. Many ships were lostin great storms in that dangerous area.

Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa and his men were the firstEuropeans to travel through the thick jungles in Panama from theAtlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast. That was in fifteen thirteen.Panama quickly became a major shipping area for the Spanish. Theirships from the colonies in the Western Hemisphere and from Asiabrought treasure to the Pacific Coast. The treasure was takenoverland to the city of Portobelo on the Atlantic Side.

The idea of building a way to connect the two great oceans beganwith the Spanish explorers. They saw the need for a canal to speedup delivery of their cargo. However, it was impossible to build. Themachines needed to build something as big as a canal did not exist.

VOICE ONE:

In eighteen seventy-nine, a French Company tried to build a canalacross Panama. It failed. The company did not have enough money tocomplete the project. Also, thousands of men working on the projectdied of the disease Yellow Fever.

In nineteen hundred, an American army doctor, Walter Reed, andhis research team discovered that mosquito insects carried the virusthat caused Yellow Fever. They worked on methods to destroy themosquito population.

This development helped make possible an American effort to buildthe Panama Canal. Panama and the United States signed treaties innineteen-oh-three and work began on the canal. More than eightythousand men worked on the huge effort. They made a canal abouteighty kilometers long from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

On August fifteenth, nineteenfourteen, the ship S-S Ancon became the first ship to sail throughthe new canal. Today, about thirteen thousand ships pass through thecanal each year. That number represents about five percent of theworld's trade. Both the Suez and the Panama Canals are truly modernWonders of the World. Both make it possible to safely move from onegreat ocean to another. And, both save huge amounts of time andmoney.

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VOICE TWO:

The two great canals we have discussed connect oceans. Our nextgreat Wonder of the World connects land.

This connecting device is called the Channel Tunnel, or"Chunnel." It connects the island that is Britain with France. Itwas one of the largest and most difficult construction projects everattempted. It is a three-tunnel railroad from Calais, France toFolkestone, England. The tunnels are fifty kilometers long. Theywere built about forty-five meters below the earth under the EnglishChannel. Two of the tunnels carry trains and one is used for repairwork and emergencies.

VOICE ONE:

The idea of a tunnel connecting Britain with other nations ofEurope was first proposed to the French Emperor Napoleon in theearly eighteen hundreds. However it was never a serious idea. Thetechnology to make such a tunnel did not exist. But people dreamedof such a tunnel. Crossing the English Channel by ship was often aterrible trip because of storms.

Three serious attempts were made to build the tunnel. The firsttwo failed. Political differences between France and Britain stoppedthe first attempt. Financial problems stopped the second.

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The third and successful attempt to build the Chunnel began innineteen eighty-seven after France and Britain signed an agreement.It took seven years to finish the work. To complete the tunnels,construction workers had to move more than seventeen million tons ofearth. The cost was more than thirteen thousand million dollars. TheChunnel opened in nineteen ninety-four.

Today, the Chunnel is very busy.High-speed trains carry cars, trucks and passengers from Britain toFrance and back again. The trains are famous for their smooth, quietride. The money paid for the trip is slowly paying for the hugecost.

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VOICE ONE:

Our last modern Wonder of the World has not yet been completed.It is perhaps the largest construction project ever attempted. It isthe Three Gorges Dam Project in China's Hubei Province. Some expertssay it is the largest attempted construction project since theancient Chinese built the Great Wall of China.

The Three Gorges Dam is being built to produce power and controlChina's Yangtze River. The Yangtze is the third longest river in theworld. It is famous for the terrible floods it has caused. Somereports say more than one million people have been killed in Yangtzefloods in the past one hundred years.

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The Three Gorges Dam will not be finished until two thousandnine. Work began in nineteen ninety-three. About two hundred fiftythousand workers are involved in the project. Experts say the hugedam will cost about twenty-five thousand million dollars. Whenfinished it will be about one hundred eighty-one meters high.

The dam will create a huge lake about six hundred thirty-twosquare kilometers. Some critics say the dam will harm theenvironment and damage historical areas. More than one millionpeople will have to be resettled before the dam is finished. Thecompleted dam will produce large amounts of electric power. Chinesegovernment officials say it will lead to increased economicdevelopment in cities near the dam. And China says the terriblefloods caused by the Yangtze will be memories of the past.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byMario Ritter. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.