The company's initial capital was about 30 million francs, but after eight years of work it ran out of money and an offer to issue 60,000 bonds of 500 francs each failed as less than half were sold. The head of the company, the Hungarian István Türr), declared bankruptcy, as did the company itself and a bank that had agreed to raise additional funds for the project. Construction resumed in 1890 when the project was transferred to a Greek company, it was finally completed on July 25, 1893 after eleven years of work.

The channel experienced financial and operational difficulties after its termination. The narrowness of the channel made navigation difficult; Its high rock walls channel strong winds along its length, and the different tidal times in the two gulfs cause strong tidal currents in the channel. For these reasons, many ship operators did not bother to use the canal, so annual traffic was well below what had been anticipated, some 4 million net tons, but by 1906 traffic had reached only half a million net tons annually. By 1913 the total had risen to about 1.5 million net tons, but the disruption caused by World War I resulted in a significant decline in traffic.[14]

Another persistent problem was due to the highly faulted nature of the sedimentary rock, in an active seismic zone through which the canal passes.[15] The large limestone walls of the canal had been persistently unstable from the beginning. Although it was formally inaugurated in July 1893, it was not opened to navigation until the following November, due to landslides. It was soon discovered that the wake of the ships passing through the canal was undermining the walls, causing new landslides. This required further expenditure on the construction of retaining walls along the water's edge for just over half the length of the canal, using some 165,000 cubic meters of masonry. Between 1893 and 1940, the canal was closed for a total of four years for maintenance and stabilization of the walls. In 1923 alone, 41 thousand cubic meters of material fell into the canal, which took two years to clear.[17]​.

During World War II, serious damage was caused to the canal, as it was the scene of a battle due to its strategic importance. On April 26, 1941, during the Battle of Greece between defending British troops and invading forces of Nazi Germany, German parachute and glider troops attempted to capture the main bridge over the canal. The bridge was defended by the British, who had planted explosives to demolish it. The Germans were able to surprise the defenders with a glider assault in the early hours of April 26 and captured the bridge, but the British detonated the charge and destroyed the structure.[18] Other authors maintain that the first Germans to reach the bridge were able to cut the detonation cables, and that it was a shell launched by British artillery that caused the bridge's destruction.[19]​[20]​.

Three years later, when German forces withdrew from Greece, the canal was rendered inoperable by German scorched earth operations. German forces used explosives to block the canal, destroyed bridges, and threw locomotives, pieces of bridges, and other infrastructure into the canal to make repair work difficult. The United States Army Corps of Engineers began work on clearing the canal in November 1947 and managed to reopen it for shallow traffic by July 7, 1948, and for all traffic in September of the same year.[21]

The idea of ​​a canal through Corinth was revived after Greece's independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830. Greek statesman Ioannis Kapodistrias asked a French engineer to evaluate the feasibility of the project, but had to abandon it when the cost was estimated at about 400 million gold francs, too expensive for a newly independent country. French impetus was due to the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and the following year, the government of Prime Minister Thrasyvoulos Zaimis" passed a law authorizing the construction of the Corinth Canal. French businessmen were put in charge, but after the bankruptcy of the French company that dug the Panama Canal, the French banks refused to lend money, and the company also ended up bankrupt. A new concession was granted to the Société Internationale du Canal Maritime de Corinthe in 1881, which was commissioned to build the canal and operate it for the next 99 years. Construction was formally inaugurated on April 23, 1882, in the presence of King George I of Greece.[13]​.

The company's initial capital was about 30 million francs, but after eight years of work it ran out of money and an offer to issue 60,000 bonds of 500 francs each failed as less than half were sold. The head of the company, the Hungarian István Türr), declared bankruptcy, as did the company itself and a bank that had agreed to raise additional funds for the project. Construction resumed in 1890 when the project was transferred to a Greek company, it was finally completed on July 25, 1893 after eleven years of work.

The channel experienced financial and operational difficulties after its termination. The narrowness of the channel made navigation difficult; Its high rock walls channel strong winds along its length, and the different tidal times in the two gulfs cause strong tidal currents in the channel. For these reasons, many ship operators did not bother to use the canal, so annual traffic was well below what had been anticipated, some 4 million net tons, but by 1906 traffic had reached only half a million net tons annually. By 1913 the total had risen to about 1.5 million net tons, but the disruption caused by World War I resulted in a significant decline in traffic.[14]

Another persistent problem was due to the highly faulted nature of the sedimentary rock, in an active seismic zone through which the canal passes.[15] The large limestone walls of the canal had been persistently unstable from the beginning. Although it was formally inaugurated in July 1893, it was not opened to navigation until the following November, due to landslides. It was soon discovered that the wake of the ships passing through the canal was undermining the walls, causing new landslides. This required further expenditure on the construction of retaining walls along the water's edge for just over half the length of the canal, using some 165,000 cubic meters of masonry. Between 1893 and 1940, the canal was closed for a total of four years for maintenance and stabilization of the walls. In 1923 alone, 41 thousand cubic meters of material fell into the canal, which took two years to clear.[17]​.

During World War II, serious damage was caused to the canal, as it was the scene of a battle due to its strategic importance. On April 26, 1941, during the Battle of Greece between defending British troops and invading forces of Nazi Germany, German parachute and glider troops attempted to capture the main bridge over the canal. The bridge was defended by the British, who had planted explosives to demolish it. The Germans were able to surprise the defenders with a glider assault in the early hours of April 26 and captured the bridge, but the British detonated the charge and destroyed the structure.[18] Other authors maintain that the first Germans to reach the bridge were able to cut the detonation cables, and that it was a shell launched by British artillery that caused the bridge's destruction.[19]​[20]​.

Three years later, when German forces withdrew from Greece, the canal was rendered inoperable by German scorched earth operations. German forces used explosives to block the canal, destroyed bridges, and threw locomotives, pieces of bridges, and other infrastructure into the canal to make repair work difficult. The United States Army Corps of Engineers began work on clearing the canal in November 1947 and managed to reopen it for shallow traffic by July 7, 1948, and for all traffic in September of the same year.[21]