A ceremonious commencement of work is staged…

A ceremonious commencement of work is staged by de Lesseps on January 1, 1880, but serious earth moving does not start until the next year.

As work progresses engineers judge that a sea-level canal is impracticable.

De Lesseps, a promoter but not an engineer, cannot be persuaded until work has gone on for six years.

Actual labor on a lock canal will not start until late in 1888, by which time the company will be in serious financial difficulty.

At the peak of its operations the company employs about ten thousand workers.