The canal experienced financial and operational difficulties after completion.
The narrowness of the canal makes navigation difficult.
Its high walls channel wind along its length, and the different times of the tides in the two gulfs cause strong tidal currents in the channel.
For these reasons, many ship operators were unwilling to use the canal, and traffic was far below predictions.
Annual traffic of just under 4 million net tons had been anticipated, but by 1906 traffic had reached only half a million net tons annually.
By 1913 the total had risen to 1.5 million net tons, but the disruption caused by World War I resulted in a major decline in traffic.

Another persistent problem was the heavily faulted nature of the sedimentary rock, in an active seismic zone, through which the canal is cut.
The canal's high limestone walls have been persistently unstable from the start.
Although it was formally opened in July 1893 it was not opened to navigation until the following November, due to landslides.
It was soon found that the wake from ships passing through the canal undermined the walls, causing further landslides.
This required further expense in building retaining walls along the water's edge for more than half of the length of the canal, using 165,000 cubic metres of masonry.
Between 1893 and 1940, it was closed for a total of four years for maintenance to stabilise the walls.
In 1923 alone, 41,000 cubic metres of material fell into the canal, which took two years to clear out.

Serious damage was caused to the canal during World War II.
On 26 April 1941, during the Battle of Greece between defending British troops and the invading forces of Nazi Germany, German parachutists and glider troops attempted to capture the main bridge over the canal.
The bridge was defended by the British and had been wired for demolition.
The Germans surprised the defenders with a glider-borne assault in the early morning of 26 April and captured the bridge, but the British set off the charges and destroyed the structure.
Other authors maintain that German pioneers cut the detonation wires, and a lucky hit by British artillery triggered the explosion.
The bridge was replaced by a combined rail/road bridge built in 25 days by the IV Railway Engineer Battalion, of the Royal Italian Army's Railway Engineer Regiment.

Three years later, as German forces retreated from Greece, the canal was put out of action by German "scorched earth" operations.
German forces used explosives to trigger landslides to block the canal, destroyed the bridges and dumped locomotives, bridge wreckage and other infrastructure into the canal to hinder repairs.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers began to clear the canal in November 1947 and reopened it for shallow-draft traffic by 7 July 1948, and for all traffic by that September.
The canal experienced financial and operational difficulties after completion. The narrowness of the canal makes navigation difficult. Its high walls channel wind along its length, and the different times of the tides in the two gulfs cause strong tidal currents in the channel. For these reasons, many ship operators were unwilling to use the canal, and traffic was far below predictions. Annual traffic of just under 4 million net tons had been anticipated, but by 1906 traffic had reached only half a million net tons annually. By 1913 the total had risen to 1.5 million net tons, but the disruption caused by World War I resulted in a major decline in traffic.
Another persistent problem was the heavily faulted nature of the sedimentary rock, in an active seismic zone, through which the canal is cut. The canal's high limestone walls have been persistently unstable from the start. Although it was formally opened in July 1893 it was not opened to navigation until the following November, due to landslides. It was soon found that the wake from ships passing through the canal undermined the walls, causing further landslides. This required further expense in building retaining walls along the water's edge for more than half of the length of the canal, using 165,000 cubic metres of masonry. Between 1893 and 1940, it was closed for a total of four years for maintenance to stabilise the walls. In 1923 alone, 41,000 cubic metres of material fell into the canal, which took two years to clear out.
Serious damage was caused to the canal during World War II. On 26 April 1941, during the Battle of Greece between defending British troops and the invading forces of Nazi Germany, German parachutists and glider troops attempted to capture the main bridge over the canal. The bridge was defended by the British and had been wired for demolition. The Germans surprised the defenders with a glider-borne assault in the early morning of 26 April and captured the bridge, but the British set off the charges and destroyed the structure. Other authors maintain that German pioneers cut the detonation wires, and a lucky hit by British artillery triggered the explosion. The bridge was replaced by a combined rail/road bridge built in 25 days by the IV Railway Engineer Battalion, of the Royal Italian Army's Railway Engineer Regiment.
Three years later, as German forces retreated from Greece, the canal was put out of action by German "scorched earth" operations. German forces used explosives to trigger landslides to block the canal, destroyed the bridges and dumped locomotives, bridge wreckage and other infrastructure into the canal to hinder repairs. The United States Army Corps of Engineers began to clear the canal in November 1947 and reopened it for shallow-draft traffic by 7 July 1948, and for all traffic by that September.
Corinth Canal