SUEZ CANAL CONSTRUCTION

Although the construction of the Suez Canal did not finish until 1869, there is a history that relates what happened at the beginning of its foundation. Egyptians used excavation to establish an artificial canal and create a connection between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea throughout the River Nile.The Egypt Pharaoh Senausert III  was the first who initiated with these excavations.

The Canal Suez was opened by Empress Eugenie who was the wife of Napoleon III. When it opened was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. For this, very few ships navigated in this year. Improvements began in 1876, the Canal quickly grew and became one of the most heavily traveled shipping lanes. Afterwards, this canal was abandoned because of sedimentation and reopened in many occasions.

After World War II, the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Canal with the idea to charge tolls that would pay the construction of a massive dam on the Nile River. For this reason,Israel was invaded and British and French troops occupied the Canal zone. Later, the troops left this place because of the pressure of the United Nations and Egypt reopened  the Canal for commercial shipping.