I'm sure 200 years ago there were camel herders laughing at French engineers digging in the desert sands... called them arrogant, stupid and crazy.
When the Suez Canal was being built, the mega project also had its fair share of foreign and domestic critics/detractors and even saboteurs.
The project faced many political, engineering, manpower and financial issues but got completed in the end.
Today we all know what impact the new passageway had on international trade.