The Darién Gap refers to the only gap in the Pan-American Highway that otherwise runs continuously between Alaska in the north and the tip of Argentina in the south. The gap occurs at the border of Panama and Colombia and the distance between existing roads is less than 100 miles. However, the terrain in this area presents many difficulties for road construction, including varying elevation and dense forestation.

Two possible routes through the Darién Gap were determined using cost path analysis. The variables considered were the presence of large water bodies and terrain slope, with higher slopes being exponentially more costly than lower slopes. One option is a 99.7 mile road between Yaviza, Panama and Arpatadó, Colombia and the other is a 93.7 mile road between Yaviza, Panama and Chigorodó, Colombia. Each road would follow the same path through southern Panama to the Colombia border but would then diverge slightly depending on the destination city. Both routes are comparable in length and exhibit similar changes in elevation.

These two options serve as a preliminary step in determining the best possible route for a road across the Darién Gap. While the presence of large water bodies was taken into consideration, the area also features several rivers which could be taken into account as building numerous bridges would likely increase the cost of construction. In addition, much of the forest in the Darién Gap is contained within national parks of Panama and Colombia. While it would not be feasible for the road to avoid these parks entirely, the governing bodies could be contacted to determine if there are any particularly sensitive ecosystems that construction should attempt to avoid to minimize damage to the environment. The parks may also have data regarding density of vegetation in the forest which could be useful in determining a ‘path of least resistance’ through the landscape.

Tools: ArcGIS Pro

Data Sources: OpenStreetMap, USGS EarthExplorer

May 2022