Bridgehunter.com | BM - Mystic River Drawbridge

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

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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: Everett, 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)

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
Flickr - Bill McCaffrey 1979 photo

BM - Mystic River Drawbridge