Photo of the Week

We have a yesterday and today photos for this week's photos of the week. The above photo was taken in 1924 of Culebra Cut showing Contractor Hill, Gold Hill and the hill that the old town of Culebra once stood. The Cut at this time was narrow and navigation of ships was difficult. Still standing in 1924 was a portion of the town of Culebra which I have captured and zoomed in on below. Through the years that followed, the town's hill slowly slid into the Cut reducing it in size. Cucaracha (bottom right in photo above) was a constant threat with massive slides too. Contractor and Gold Hills were solid rock and not an easy task to widen until recently (see below).

Below is a grand photo of Culebra Cut today showing how it has been significantly widened. Contractor Hill and Gold Hill have been conquered and large portions of the hills removed. I have identified approximately where the old construction towns of Culebra, Empire, Cascadas and Cucaracha once stood. There isn't much of the hill that the town of Culebra once sat on is there anymore. I am sure the diggers of the Canal would be surprised to see how much has been excavated today.

Photo below was submitted by CZ Images contributor Mauro Martinez. Thank you Mauro.