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BM - Mystic River Drawbridge

Suffolk County, Massachusetts, and Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Photos 

Oblique View Of Northwest Side Of Mystic River Bridge, Looking Southeast From New (U/C) Railroad Bridge Deck

Photo taken for the Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #309593

Map 

Description 

Drawbridge No. 7 is apparently the last horizontally folding railroad bridge in the eastern United States. Its technology is representative of the earliest patented movable span bridge in the country (patented by Joseph Ross of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1849). The horizontally folding draw was a common railroad bridge type in the Greater Boston area since the 1840s. All except Drawbridge No. 7 have been removed and/or replaced.

-- Historic American Engineering Record

Facts 

Overview
Warren deck truss bridge over Mystic River on Boston & Maine Railroad
Location
Somerville, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, and Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Status
Replaced by a new bridge
History
Built 1893-4; Deck trusses added 1917; Tower rebuilt 1933; Stringers added 1955-56; Replaced 1989
Railroad
- Boston & Maine Railroad (BM)
Design
Warren deck truss
Also called
BM - Drawbridge No. 7
Draw 7
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.39315, -71.07440   (decimal degrees)
42°23'35" N, 71°04'28" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
19/329260/4695512 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Boston North
Inventory number
BH 64469 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,563)
Beam (15,712)
Boston & Maine Railroad (402)
Built 1893 (214)
Built during 1890s (2,982)
Deck truss (1,731)
Everett, Massachusetts (2)
Lost (24,725)
Lost 1989 (181)
Lost during 1980s (1,370)
Massachusetts (1,104)
Middlesex County, Massachusetts (243)
 Movable (2,969)
Mystic River (17)
Railroad (15,411)
Replaced by new bridge (16,573)
Somerville, Massachusetts (16)
Steel stringer (6,222)
Suffolk County, Massachusetts (124)
Swing (1,453)
Truss (32,778)
Warren deck truss (604)
Warren truss (6,564)

Update Log 

  • December 8, 2014: New photo from Douglas Butler
  • December 8, 2014: Added by Luke

Sources 

  • Luke
  • HAER MA-88 - Mystic River Drawbridge No. 7, Spanning Mystic River at Boston & Maine Railroad Eastern Route, Somerville, Middlesex County, MA
  • Douglas Butler

Comments 

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