Watch: Suez Canal Expansion - A Race Against The Clock

The finish of the Suez Canal project is in sight. The dredging of more than a million cubic meters of sand a day is unprecedented. And this assignment has also pushed back the boundaries in terms of speed, and the deployment of equipment and manpower.

The army began work 10 months ago on the $8 billion canal, flanking the existing, historic 145-year-old waterway and part of a larger undertaking to expand trade along the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

The Suez Canal is a vital source of hard currency for Egypt, particularly since the 2011 uprising that scared off tourists and foreign investment.

The new canal would reduce navigation time for ships to 11 hours from about 22 hours, making it the fastest such waterway in the world. The new and old canals are connected by four small channels.