The Hurden ship canal is a 500-metre (1,600 ft) long canal in the Swiss canton of Schwyz. It connects the lower section of Lake Zürich with the upper section, sometimes called the Obersee, permitting shipping services on the lake to pass between the two halves of the lake without passing through the shallows, and under the low bridges, of the Seedamm. The canal was opened in 1943, and cuts through the base of the peninsular containing the village of Hurden, thus placing the centre of the village on an artificial island.