The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1911-03-16
CAPE COD CANAL WORK.
Remarkable CHANGE. :, -. s,,d.,,eh :

Nemaskable Changes at the Sandwich End.
j. SANDWICH. March Z. Just a year ago
dae little dredge Nahant was working
10y ana night cutting through the beach
I I, making q channel SO that the
euges 70 begin work on the Cape Cod
vanai might get inside the beach to the
dnn ls OF ditch dug by the Lockwood
VIZ ISuEe quarter of a century ago. Tugs
anu nghters soon after resumed work on
.ne great sea wall in the bay and the
Mork begun at that time and carried on
through the year made many and re-
...alhaDie changes on this end of the
Eleat waterway that will make Cape
=, Inc dredge Nahant finished the cut
Trough the beach April 9Th and two days
Mel a.e1 tne big hydraulic dredge General
mackenzie entered and has since been at
w0rk olgging the waterway.
,,,a Inc work OF building the breakwater
WA, was carried on steadily during the past
year. from both the shore and seward
ehos OF the breakwater the work has
kohe on almost without interruption and
~. .ne contractors are confident that with
the average weather this season thew
WILL be able to finish the task,
Inc cutting through the beach by the
ureoge Nahant opened a channel that
mac been closed for nearly Is years and
again the waters of the mile of ditch
mat was dug by the Lockwood dredge
raced into Cape Cod bay and back.
The great sea wall is about half finish
eo and 1t stretches from the beach dis
lance OF nearly $500 feet out to the 30
foot depth.
The storm tides of the winter have
battered the sea wall but, SO far as can
De learned by the engineers who have
peen making daily observations of the
eHect OF the charging seas, the great
wall has not suffered the least damage.
The breakwater runs from the beach
IN southeasterly direction and has al
ready proven that it can hold back the
raging seas kicked up by northerly gales.
Durlng the winter the fleet of cod fish
ermen have made the canal their anchor
age place and the great sea wall has
AFFORDED them ample protection from the
gales.
Inc entrance to the canal today is in
striking contrast to the little channel
that the Nahant was cutting through the
peach just year ago, and visitors say
tney can hardly realize the vast amount
OF work that has been done in one year.
While remarkable progress in the work
OF building the canal has been made dur
ing the past year, a plan of campaign
has been made for the present year that
promises to show greater results than
since the work began. On April LIST
work on this and the Buzzards bay end
OF the canal will be begun by fleet of
dredges that will be kept constantly at
work until the canal is finished and the
waters of Cape Cod bay mingle with
those of Buzzards bay.
Where there was a depth of a little
over dozen feet at the entrance to the
canal year ago and the dredges had
difficulty in getting inside the beach, to-
day vessels drawing Is feet may enter at
low tide, and the entrance is being used
day and night by the fleet of fishing ves-
sells and the tugs and scows of the con-
struction company that are engaged
digging the canal
During the winter the U. S. fish hatch
cry at Woods Hole stationed its steam
er in the canal, so that it might be near
the egg-bearing Goldfish in the bay off
here.
Other vessels and small boats have
found the canal entrance a handy and
safe place of anchorage during rough
weather, and the sailormen along the
coast are loud in their praise of the pro-
gross that is being made.
During the year it is planned to have
the big dredges on this end of the canal
work day and night, and the making of
land on the marshes will be carried on by
the hydraulic dredges.
A system of docks will be constructed
on this end of the canal, and it is be-
lieved that all New England will be sur
prised with the results attained before
the close of the year.
While it is stated that the canal will
be completed within IL years it is be-
lieved that within year and half the
cut through the valley between the two
bays will have been made, and that long
before the waterway is opened for ship
ping the tides will flow back and forth
from one bay to the other.