Based on the following passage, why would the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertake a civil engineering project such as the Panama Canal outside the boundaries of the United States? The Corps was founded by Congress in 1779, and by the early 19th century it was helping lay the infrastructure for the growing country by building roads and canals and dredging the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. In 1914 the Corps finished the Panama Canal, an engineering marvel unprecedented in scope and complexity, which allowed ships to pass from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in just a few hours, rather than making the two-week journey around the treacherous Strait of Magellan at the tip of South America. A hundred years later, the Corps is involved in plans to expand the Panama Canal so it can accommodate today’s ultra-large cargo ships.