A bill authorising the building of the Manchester Ship Canal to connect Manchester with the open sea was passed by Parliament in 1885. Construction began in August 1887 under the supervision of Thomas Walker, and the enormous project soon attracted many sightseers and visitors. In February 1892, when the Canal was nearly three-quarters complete, a reporter for Good Words described Walker as 'a prince among contractors', involved in 'Herculean labours' as he directed 'regiments' of 'as many as seventeen thousand men and boys ... at one time.' Also at his command were some 100 steam navies (mechanical shovels), 173 railway locomotives and 6,330 wagons: 'such a large and various collection of implements for an assault upon mother earth has never been brought together before' (quoted by Gary S. Messinger, Manchester in the Victorian Age, 1985, p.169). The Canal was finally opened by Queen Victoria on 21 May 1894.