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The Panama Canal is considered one of the wonders of the world and a key development economic and trade growth around the world. But the $6 billion expansion of the Canal opened in 2016 represents more than simply engineering achievements and dollars and cents, according to the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

The Canal expansion is a “triumph of human yearning,” an example that restrictions and challenges don’t prevent people from achieving great things, the Tribune editors write.

“Beyond its pocketbook effects…the expanded Panama Canal speaks to driving forces in human history: The urge to shrink the globe. To prosper via trade. To find the shortcut,” Tribune editors write.

From a business perspective, there are lessons to be learned from the Canal experience, they note. Faced with adversity and changing landscape, “the canal authority did what many outfits do to survive: It got bigger,” the editors wrote. “The canal transformed Panama into a banking, trading and airline mecca,” and the canal is now “one of the most lucrative and valuable tracts of real estate on Earth,” the Tribune notes.

But there is more to the Canal than simply economic forces. The editorial board links the Canal to man’s great quests in the name of trade over the generations, including efforts to navigate the Northwest Passage.

“Even in the modern construction age, building a canal, holding back the unpredictable forces of nature, isn’t for the fainthearted,” the Tribune writes. “Many dream, few succeed.”

The Canal will impact trade and commerce throughout the Midwest, but it should also be appreciated for its achievement and the willingness to overcome challenges and create solutions.

“What was true a century ago is still true,” the editors write. “Moving a lot of dirt, pouring tons of concrete, girding against nature’s whims, is tough, dangerous and … magnificent.”

Read the full editorial here.