Massachusetts moved a step closer to replacing a pair of 1930s-era bridges connecting Cape Cod and the mainland with two new spans under a deal inked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation will build a pair of new, modern bridges over the Cape Cod Canal, with the federal government on the hook to pick up the tab, under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the state and the Corps.