The plan to build two new spans across the Cape Cod Canal has now amassed about $722 million, and the state Department of Transportation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have a pending $1 billion grant application to the federal government. 

With a major project to rebuild the Bourne and Sagamore bridges in the pipeline, MassDOT will host two virtual public meetings this week.

A growing number of ecological, economic and social pressures have prompted Island planners to consider a first-of-its-kind carrying capacity study for Martha’s Vineyard.

State and federal leaders announced a memorandum of understanding that will shift the project to replace the Bourne and Sagamore bridges to the state level.

A draft report released this week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is recommending replacement of both the Bourne and Sagamore bridges.

A long-running dredging project is back underway at Menemsha Channel with a new company at the helm. H&L Dredging of Bay Shores, N.Y., aims to complete a project that began two years ago.

The dredging of the Menemsha channel isn’t the first Army Corps project to suffer from delays since the federal government approved more than $50 billion in recovery aid after Hurricane Sandy.

As Menemsha Channel is dredged for first time in decades, Chilmark and Aquinnah officials are protecting Menemsha Pond from increased boat traffic.

The Army Corps of Engineers has recommended a $9.8 million project to remove practice bombs and other debris from a former World War II bombing range along the south shore. The five-year investigation and feasibility study was completed this month.

Underlying the peaceful scene at Cape Pogue Bay are an unknown number of unexploded practice bombs, dating to wartime years when the area was used for military training.