Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins unpacks which nations have control of the Panama Canal on ‘Special Report.’

I grew up in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Our town’s name described what made us unique — we had locks on the Connecticut River. Ever since I was a kid, I understood how locks worked, and I always wanted to see the ones that changed the world.

Recently, I had that opportunity when I transited the Panama Canal. To see the locks operate just as they have for more than 110 years was thrilling. Traveling the almost 50-mile journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic was an experience I’ll never forget.

The construction of the Canal was the largest and most expensive project ever undertaken at that point in human history. Nothing so massive, elaborate or systematic had ever been attempted before. The financial cost, combined with the human toll of more than 25,000 lives lost, was comparable to a war.

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Such a monumental achievement could never have happened without determination, perseverance, persistence and grit. The result changed the world and the global economy forever. The Canal cut the distance from the Atlantic to the Pacific by 8,000 miles, resulting in three fewer weeks of travel time.

Today, ships carrying as many as 11,000 containers transit through the Canal. Cars, appliances and an array of other goods make their way across the world thanks to the more than one million ships that use the Panama Canal each year.

But the journey to a mid-continental canal was a long one, filled with crushed dreams, financial ruin, enormous adversity — and ultimate triumph. The French were the first to attempt building the Canal. Ferdinand de Lesseps had built the Suez Canal and was certain he could build the Panama Canal too. The French created a private company to do it. They sold shares in multiple rounds of investment. Huge........

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