PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR Building a concrete arched bridge Widening a road created a unique bridge/James Van Bokkelen
buryport, Massachusetts. Just north of Rowley, Main Street crossed the busy Boston & Maine Eastern Division at an angle. Although the track was straight there, the visibility didn’t pre- vent cars from hitting Boston-Portland expresses. The accidents were deadly. In 1907 the Massachusetts Highway Commission replaced the grade cross- ing with an overpass. They chose to build for the ages, using a single con- crete arch to span the double-track mainline. Earth fills carried the road up to the span, and concrete retaining walls angling away from the tracks supported the embankments. The arch served its purpose, but in- creasing traffic in the 1920’s overtaxed it. In 1931 the Highway Commission decided to widen the overpass. Against
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s the 20th century began, traffic increased on the coastal high- way between Ipswich and New-
In 1907 a concrete overpass was built just outside Rowley, Massachusetts, crossing the Boston & Maine’s line to Newburyport. When the road and bridge were widened in 1931, the bridge’s new lane was constructed with reinforced concrete beams on posts, resulting in a rectangular portal. The differences are visible from the track level. This is the north side.
APRIL 2014
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