 | |
| Industry | Bridge construction |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1876 in Boston, MA, U.S. |
| Founder | D.H. Andrews |
| Fate | Out of business 1938 |
Area served | New England |
Boston Bridge Works (also known as Boston Bridge Works, Inc.) was an engineering firm, building bridges throughout New England, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Operating out of Boston, they specialized in the drafting, design and implementation of both road and railway truss bridges, [1] a common bridge style of that period. [2]
The establishment of Boston Bridge Works was in the year 1876 by David H. Andrews, [1] building notable bridges, such as the 1892 Harvard Bridge between Cambridge and Boston. [3] The company also constructed bridges for many New England railways such as the Boston and Maine Railroad and Boston and Providence Railroad. [1]
Employees of the company were engineers and contractors for steel bridges, buildings, roofs, and railway turntables. The general offices, for most of their operating years, were at 47 Winter Street, Boston, with a plant in East Cambridge. [4]
In August of 1909 a lawsuit was brought to the Massachusetts Superior Court claiming Boston Bridge Works and the New England Structural Company of wrongdoing in a civil suit. The suit alleged the two companies were in a collusive bidding war. The city of Boston claimed that the two companies had a monopoly in the area. Bids for the Broadway bridge consisted of $ 112,874 by the New England Structural Company and $ 113,000 by Boston Bridge Works. The contract was awarded to Boston Bridge Works but due to losing the lawsuit, they had to pay back $ 5,000 to the city of Boston. [5]
After both a fire at their Cambridge plant, [6] and declining contracts during the Great Depression, Boston Bridge Works went out of business in 1938. [1]
| Image | Bridge | Year | Type | State | Town | River | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Frank J. Wood Bridge [7] | 1932 | Through truss |  Maine | Androscoggin River | Open to traffic | |
 | Gould's Mill Bridge [8] | 1929 | Baltimore truss |  Vermont | Springfield | Black River | Open to traffic |
 | Harvard Bridge [3] | 1891 | Girder bridge |  Massachusetts | Charles River | Open to traffic | |
 | India Point Railroad Bridge [9] | 1903 | Swing bridge |  Rhode Island | Seekonk River | Removed 2001 [10] | |
 | Penobscot River Bridge [11] | 1902 | Truss | Maine | Penobscot River | Replaced 1997 [12] | |
 | Piermont Bridge [13] | 1928 | Through truss |  New Hampshire | Piermont | Connecticut River | Open to traffic |
 | Point Street Bridge [14] | 1927 | Swing bridge | Rhode Island | Providence | Providence River | Open to traffic |
 | Tyngsborough Bridge [15] | 1930 | Pratt-type truss [16] | Massachusetts | Tyngsborough | Merrimack River | Open to traffic |
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of the New York and New Haven and Hartford and New Haven railroads, the company had near-total dominance of railroad traffic in Southern New England for the first half of the 20th century.
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over 394 mi (634 km) of track to 134 stations. It is operated under contract by Keolis, which took over operations on July 1, 2014, from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR).
The Providence and Worcester Railroad is a Class II railroad operating 612 miles (985 km) of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build a railroad between Providence, Rhode Island, and Worcester, Massachusetts, and ran its first trains in 1847. A successful railroad, the P&W subsequently expanded with a branch to East Providence, Rhode Island, and for a time leased two small Massachusetts railroads. Originally a single track, its busy mainline was double-tracked after a fatal 1853 collision in Valley Falls, Rhode Island.
The Bangor and Aroostook Railroad was a United States railroad company that brought rail service to Aroostook County in northern Maine. Brightly-painted BAR boxcars attracted national attention in the 1950s. First-generation diesel locomotives operated on BAR until they were museum pieces. The economic downturn of the 1980s, coupled with the departure of heavy industry from northern Maine, forced the railroad to seek a buyer and end operations in 2003. It was succeeded by the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway.
The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed from several smaller railroads that dated back to 1846. After a bankruptcy in 1893, the NY&NE was reorganized and briefly operated as the New England Railroad before being leased to the competing New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1898.
The Boston and Providence Railroad was a railroad company in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island which connected its namesake cities. It opened in two sections in 1834 and 1835 - one of the first rail lines in the United States - with a more direct route into Providence built in 1847. Branches were built to Dedham in 1834, Stoughton in 1845, and North Attleboro in 1871. It was acquired by the Old Colony Railroad in 1888, which in turn was leased by the New Haven Railroad in 1893. The line became the New Haven's primary mainline to Boston; it was realigned in Boston in 1899 during the construction of South Station, and in Pawtucket and Central Falls in 1916 for grade crossing elimination.
The Providence/Stoughton Line is an MBTA Commuter Rail service in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, primarily serving the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Most service runs entirely on the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Providence station or Wickford Junction station in Rhode Island, while the Stoughton Branch splits at Canton Junction and terminates at Stoughton. It is the longest MBTA Commuter Rail line, and the only one that operates outside Massachusetts. The line is the busiest on the MBTA Commuter Rail system, with 17,648 daily boardings in an October 2022 count.
The East Junction Branch is a rail line in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in the United States. The line branches off the Northeast Corridor at Attleboro, Massachusetts, at a point known as East Junction, and ends at the East Providence Branch in East Providence, Rhode Island. CSX Transportation operates freight service on the branch in Attleboro, while the Providence and Worcester Railroad operates freight service in East Providence and across the state line into Seekonk. The line is owned by the P&W in Rhode Island, and by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Massachusetts.
Canton Junction station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Canton, Massachusetts. It serves the Providence/Stoughton Line, and is planned for future service on the South Coast Rail line. It is located slightly north of the Canton Viaduct and west of downtown Canton.
The Boston and Providence Railroad Bridge in East Providence is a railroad bridge on the East Junction Branch spanning Ten Mile River. A portion of the bridge also spans Roger Williams Avenue. The bridge was built in 1884 by the Boston and Providence Railroad, replacing an earlier structure on the line. The bridge abutments are faced in coursed ashlar stone, with brick-faced segmental-arch tunnels piercing them. The main span of the bridge consists of two Warren trusses resting on the abutments and a central pier in the Ten Mile River. The bridge formerly carried two tracks, but has been reduced to one.
Union Station is a railway station located at Washington Square in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the western terminus of the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line and a stop for the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited service. A bus terminal adjacent to the station is the hub for Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) local bus service; it is also used by PVTA, Peter Pan, Greyhound intercity buses.
Bradlee, Winslow & Wetherell (1872–1888) was an architecture firm in Boston, Massachusetts. Its principals were Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee (1829–1888), Walter Thacher Winslow (1843–1909) and George Homans Wetherell (1854–1930). Most of the firm's work was local to Boston and New England, with a few commissions as far afield as Seattle and Kansas City.
Magoun Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located at Lowell Street south of Magoun Square in Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
India Point Railroad Bridge was a swing bridge which spanned the Seekonk River, connecting the City of Providence, Rhode Island at India Point to the City of East Providence at Watchemoket. It was last used in 1974, and the swing span was removed in 2001 leaving only two fixed truss spans. The remaining spans were ultimately removed in 2023.
The Hillsborough Railroad Bridge was a historic covered railroad bridge spanning the Contoocook River in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Built in 1903 by the Boston and Maine Railroad, it was destroyed by arson in 1985. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. At the time of its nomination it was one of six covered railroad bridges in the state; it and at least one other were destroyed by the actions of arsonists.
Railroads have played an important role in New England ever since the Granite Railway, America's first commercial railway, began operations in Massachusetts in 1826. As industrialization spread across the region, hundreds of railroads were built throughout the 19th century. Railroad mileage peaked around World War I, and from that point on mileage began to shrink. Despite this, railroads continue to be important for freight and passenger transportation in the region, with the New Haven Line holding the title of busiest railroad line in the entire United States.
The East Providence Branch is a railroad line in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in the United States. It connects Valley Falls, Rhode Island, to East Providence, Rhode Island, via South Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The branch was originally built by the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) in 1874, connecting its main line to a coal dock in East Providence, and was 7 miles (11 km) in length. At East Providence, the branch also met the East Junction Branch of the Boston and Providence Railroad and the mainline of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad. Built as a single-track railroad with bridges and the right-of-way prepared for future double-tracking, the line was fully double-tracked from 1892 to 1895; the second track was eventually removed.
The Frank J. Wood Bridge is a three span, through truss bridge crossing over the Androscoggin River between the towns of Topsham and Brunswick, Maine, on U.S. Route 201. Opened in 1932, the bridge was originally called the Brunswick-Topsham bridge but was officially renamed the Frank J. Wood Bridge, after a local farmer who suggested the location.
