<P> The proposed sea - level canal would have a uniform depth of 9 meters (29.5 ft), a bottom width of 22 meters (72.2 ft) and a width at water level of about 27.5 meters (90.2 ft); the excavation estimate was 120,000,000 m (157,000,000 cu yd). A dam was proposed at Gamboa to control flooding of the Chagres River, with channels to drain water away from the canal . However, the Gamboa dam was later found impracticable and the Chagres River problem was left unsolved . </P> <P> Construction of the canal began on January 1, 1881, with digging at Culebra beginning on January 22 . A large labor force was assembled, numbering about 40,000 in 1888 (nine - tenths of whom were afro - Caribbean workers from the West Indies). Although the project attracted good, well - paid French engineers, retaining them was difficult due to disease . The death toll from 1881 to 1889 was estimated at over 22,000, of whom as many as 5,000 were French citizens . </P> <P> By 1885 it had become clear to many that a sea - level canal was impractical, and an elevated canal with locks was preferable; de Lesseps resisted, and a lock canal plan was not adopted until October 1887 . By this time increasing mortality rates, as well as financial and engineering problems coupled with frequent floods and mudslides, indicated that the project was in serious trouble . Work continued under the new plan until May 15, 1889, when the company went bankrupt and the project was suspended . After eight years the canal was about two - fifths completed, and about $234.8 million had been spent . </P> <P> The company's collapse was a scandal in France, and the antisemitic Edouard Drumont exploited the role of two Jewish speculators in the affair . One hundred and four legislators were found to have been involved in the corruption, and Jean Jaurès was commissioned by the French parliament to conduct an inquiry which was completed in 1893 . </P>

Who were the primary workforce for building the canal