Pierre-Paul Riquet

Pierre-Paul Riquet, Baron de Bonrepos (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ pɔl ʁikɛ]; 29 June 1609 (some sources say 1604) – 4 October 1680) was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi.

Even so, Louis XIV was keen for the project to proceed, largely because of the increasing cost and danger of transporting cargo and trade around southern Spain where pirates were common.

Advances in lock engineering and the creation of a 6 million cubic metre artificial lake, the Bassin de St. Ferréol which harvested water from streams on the Black Mountain near the Naurouze watershed,[1] provided solutions.

"[3] The high cost of construction depleted Riquet's personal fortune and the seemingly insurmountable problems caused his sponsors, including Louis XIV, to lose interest.

Riquet acquired the seigneury of Caraman for his second son, Pierre-Paul II, and bought him a Brevet Lieutenant General of the Kings Armies in the French Guards.