Rating:
61956
{82}%
1 vote
Echo Bridge
Photos
General View Looking North Showing 130-Foot Span Of Echo Bridge Over The Charles River
Photo taken for the Historic American Engineering Record
View photos at Library of Congress
BH Photo #289304
Description
Echo Bridge is the largest of the visible structures on the 18.8 mile Sudbury River Aqueduct connecting the Sudbury River in Framingham with Boston's Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Completed in 1878, the aqueduct was Boston's second major water supply, supplementing the Cochituate Aqueduct of 1848. Chief Engineer in charge of construction was Alphonse Fteley. The 475-foot long bridge consists of seven arches: five have 37-foot spans; that over Ellis St. is 28 feet long. The river span has a length of 130 feet, for many years the second largest masonry arch span in the U.S. (following that of the 220-foot Cabin John Aqueduct in Washington, D.C.), and the eleventh in the world. A footbridge on the crown covers the conduit which is inside a brick and concrete framework. The bridge takes its name from the ability of the central arch to echo loudly voices and other sounds beneath it. The bridge is situated in Hemlock Gorge, a rugged wooden setting, now an MDC reservation.
-- Historic American Engineering Record
Facts
- Overview
- Stone arch bridge over Charles River on Sudbury Aqueduct
- Location
- Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and Norfolk County, Massachusetts
- Status
- Open to pedestrians only
- History
- Built 1878
- Builders
- - Alphonse Fteley (Chief Engineer)
- George W. Phelps (Architect)
- Design
- Stone arch
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 130.0 ft.
Total length: 475.0 ft.
- Recognition
-
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on April 9, 1980
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +42.31482, -71.22693 (decimal degrees)
42°18'53" N, 71°13'37" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
- Approximate UTM coordinates
- 19/316478/4687133 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Newton
- Inventory numbers
- NRHP 80000638 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 61956 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- April 8, 2020: New photo from Tony Dillon
- October 25, 2019: New photo from Dave King
- September 6, 2015: Photo imported by Dave King
- August 11, 2014: New Street View added by Ian Martin
- July 25, 2014: Added by Ian Martin
Sources
- Ian Martin
- HAER MA-39 - Sudbury River Aqueduct, Echo Bridge, Spanning Charles River at Upper Newton Falls, Newton, Middlesex County, MA
- Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com