Canal construction was seen as a task to unite the young empire. There were government and bauxite officials, inspectors, and workers from many parts of the German Empire, not just from Prussia.
The construction was managed by the Imperial Canal Commission, based in Kiel. It initially appointed four, and later five, construction officials to supervise the work on the respective construction sections.
For example, Construction Office I supervised the Brunsbüttel construction section from the Elbe estuary to canal kilometer 3.87 and was particularly responsible for the construction of the large double locks, the inland port at the Elbe estuary, and the two piers in the Elbe stream.
A total of 9.000 employees worked on the entire route. A total of 82 million m³ of soil was moved.
The nearly 100-kilometer long canal was equipped with four locks and six bridges – a massive structure that was completed in an unusually short construction period of only eight years.
Proven and innovative machines and equipment were used at the time.
For example, the following equipment was used to transport the earth masses in 1892:
- 20 dry dredgers
- 42 bucket dredgers and Excavators (steam dry dredgers)
- 65 locomotives
- 1.790 transport wagons
- 662 dump trucks and wheelbarrows
- 11 steam barges
- 123 transport barges (lighters) and
- 37 tugboats.
On June 3, 1887, the then 90-year-old Emperor Wilhelm I laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Kiel Canal in Holtenau. With three hammer blows, the Emperor uttered the following words:
„In honor of a united Germany! For its continued prosperity. As a symbol of its power and strength!“
Only eight years later Emperor Wilhelm II laid the keystone in June 1985.