http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_(earthmoving)

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Note added at 12 mins (2012-02-03 12:16:59 GMT)
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The Panama Canal: Cutting a canal through Central America
http://www.sfei.org/node/1577

For many forward-looking leaders in the U.S., cutting a canal across the Panama Isthmus made a lot of sense since this new route would only be around 5,000 miles.
http://historical.whatitcosts.com/facts-panama-canal.htm

The Gaillard Cut. One of the greatest barriers to a canal was the continental divide, which originally rose to 110 metres (360.9 ft) above sea level at its highest point; the effort to create a cut through this barrier of rock was clearly one of the greatest challenges faced by the project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Panama_Canal#The...

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Note added at 3 days4 hrs (2012-02-06 16:43:36 GMT)
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Morgan, founder of the "Morgan Line" of steamers, at his
own expense made a cut through the peninsula...
http://www.portarchive.com/1933/1933 May Volume.11 No.1 Page...

A cut across the peninsula would bring the Chesapeake and Atlantic together and enable vessels of the ocean-carrying trade to reach Baltimore in much quicker time than is now the case
http://www.tidewatertimes.com/HalRoth-November2010.htm