United States. Panama Canal. Department of Operation and Maintenance

The Department of Operation and Maintenance was established on April 1, 1914, per Executive Order 1885, dated January 27, 1914. The Department of Operation and Maintenance was under the immediate supervision and direction of the Governor of the Panama Canal. This Department was charged with the construction of the Canal and with its operation and maintenance when completed. This included all matters relating to traffic of the Canal and its adjuncts; and the operation and maintenance of beacons, lights and lighthouses; the supervision of ports and waterways, including pilotage; the admeasuring and inspecting of vessels, including hulls and boilers; the operation and maintenance of the Panama Railroad upon the Isthmus, including telephone and telegraph systems; the operation of locks, coaling plants, shops, dry-docks and wharves; office engineering, including meteorology and hydrography; the construction of buildings and sanitary and municipal engineering, including the construction and maintenance of drainage ditches, streets, roads and bridges. The Department was abolished in the reorganization of July 1, 1950.