Who planned and constructed the Suez Canal? When was it finished? What were the benefits and disadvantages of the constuction? How did the canal support nation building or imperialism? What role did technology play in the construction?

In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, planned and constructed the Suez Canal of 100 miles across the Isthmus of Suez.

In 1875 it was finished.

When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface.