The idea goes back as far as the Pilgrims in Plymouth but the first shovel wasn't plunged until 1909. Up until the canal opened, all boats had to travel around Cape Cod and Nantucket Shoals(some smaller went through sketchy channels), adding an extra 130 nm or more to getting from Cape Cod Bay into Buzzards Bay.

There was huge amount of marine trade and traffic rounding the Cape in the late 1800's. Ship wrecks were being recorded at a rate one one every two weeks!

This is one of a pair of big steam powered dredges built on site working in the last stretch once the dam was removed. It was a huge project and quite a feat in the day.