The Somerset Coal Canal was built in the early 19th century <answer>to reduce the cost of transportation of coal and other heavy produce</answer>. The first 16 kilometres (10 mi), running from a junction with the Kennet and Avon Canal, along the Cam valley, to a terminal basin at Paulton, were in use by 1805, together with several tramways. A planned 11.7 km (7.3 mi) branch to Midford was never built, but in 1815 a tramway was laid along its towing path. In 1871 the tramway was purchased by the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), and operated until the 1950s.
Why was the Somerset county Canal built 
to reduce the cost of transportation of coal and other heavy produce