The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts.
Part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the canal is approximately 7 miles, or 11.3 km long of which most follow tidal rivers that are widened and deepened into a ship channel. and connects Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south. The town of Sandwich, Massachusetts is near the Massachusetts Bay entrance and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy lies near its entrance to Buzzards Bay. The approximate 20,000 annual users of the canal save about 135 miles (217 km) by not using the route around Cape Cod. A swift running Canal current changes direction every six hours and can reach a maximum velocity of 5.2 miles (8.4 km) per hour, during the receding ebb tide. The canal is maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and has no toll fees. The canal is 480 feet (150 m) wide and has authorized depth of 32 feet (9.8 m) at mean low water. The canal is spanned by the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge and two highway bridges—the Bourne and the Sagamore. Traffic lights govern the approach of vessels over 65 feet (19.8 m), and are located at either end of the canal.
Read more about Cape Cod Canal: Early History, Digging The Canal, Recreational Uses, Pictures
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“The Great South Beach of Long Island,... though wild and desolate, as it wants the bold bank,... possesses but half the grandeur of Cape Cod in my eyes, nor is the imagination contented with its southern aspect.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The Great South Beach of Long Island,... though wild and desolate, as it wants the bold bank,... possesses but half the grandeur of Cape Cod in my eyes, nor is the imagination contented with its southern aspect.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“My impression about the Panama Canal is that the great revolution it is going to introduce in the trade of the world is in the trade between the east and the west coast of the United States.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)