The construction of the Corinth canal was the most ambitious engineering project of the 19th century. The first rail bridge was built by the company that had been commissioned to construct the canal. Its team of engineers also repaired the trains whenever possible. The workers used the trains to travel to and from work regularly. The canal opened on November 9, 1893. During the Battle of Greece, British troops destroyed the bridge. The German army replaced it with a new rail bridge, which was destroyed by the retreating Germans in 1944. They also dumped locomotives of the Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways into the canal. The post-war bridge was built in 1946, while the canal reopened three years later.