The Middlesex Canal was one of the earliest undertakings in the United States of a civil engineering project of its magnitude. This was a massive endeavor, one which took numerous years, and it brought about numerous innovations, such as using hydraulic cement.
On this day December 21st, in 1803, the Middlesex Canal opens to connect the Merrimack River with the Boston Harbor. The canal had first been surveyed in 1793 by engineer Loami Baldwin. What makes part of this unique is the cement used because hydraulic cement is something that can harden even with water being on top of it, which is exactly what a canal needs.
The canal had a tremendous economic impact, enhancing Lowell’s commercial industry, while diminishing others, now that trade could go straight to Boston. The canal is 27 miles long, up to 30 feet wide at some points, and 3 feet deep, just enough to have small boats be carried. The Merrimack River flows from New Hampshire into Massachusetts and is 177 miles long. Boston is one of the largest metropolitan cities of the United States, and its port is an important merchant and trading location.