THE SUEZ-CANAL REVISITED - DELESSEPS,FERDINAND - THE GENESIS AND NURTURING OF MACROENGINEERING PROJECTS FOR THE NEXT CENTURY

In commenoration of the centenary of Ferdinand de Lesseps' death on 7 December 1894, an expanded version of the 1993 MIT Brunel Lecture deli vered by Jean-Paul Calon is here reproduced. The benefits that humanit y has derived from innovative large scale projects such as the Suez Ca nal - the product of Lesseps' imagination and perseverance - are affir med and the technological progress born out of this massive constructi onal effort is reviewed. Finally, a plea is made for a more visionary and enlightened outlook among contemporary engineers in the light of s everal macroengineering projects that are ripe for development and exp loitation.