Ahoj!
After doing some rough sums, I have come to the conclusion that in N-verse terms the Darien (OTL Panama) canal cost 800$ and a better not to disclose number of BPs.
I asked around and it seems that the Panama canal paid back its construction cost somewhere in the 1990s. 80 years from completion.
If that is correct - having three canals, and assuming that each gets one third of OTL traffic, the Darien canal will start bringing profits to the GC Government in 2246.
Borys
That probably goes a long way towards explaining why we only have one canal.
Spread over the time of construction, the cost isn't actually unbearable for Gran Colombia - it merely comes at the expense of expanding the economy or doing much work on the Armada, for instance. More or less how I expected things to go. Did you actually get a BP estimate? That I'd like to see, even if it is frightening.
Anyway, some future generation of Alizandro will be delighted to get his first cheque in 2246.
Ahoj!
I'm trying to track down the actual amount of steel used. With the American fetish for numbers, I'm sure it must be out there somewhere. As to my BP estimate - I initialy thought about 800 BP, i.e. roughly 35 battleships. Seems too high, so I'm loking for the actual number.
ADDED LATER:
200 miles of stadard gauge rail track. 160 locomotives. 2300 rail cars. That's for starters.
The locomotives are 7,5 BP.
Borys
320km - 8BP.
2500 rolling stock - 7.5BP
Locks, etc - another 4.5BP?
Total 20BP
IMO the BP cost is not too high, it still costs as much as a battleship.
And for the GC national economy as a whole the Canal would bring its price back much earlier.