Boston & Albany Railroad, Weston Road Bridge, Spanning Boston & Albany Railroad on Weston Road, Wellesley, Norfolk County, MA

Significance: The Weston Road Bridge is the oldest of twelve known surviving double-intersection Warren pony truss bridges in New England. It was one of many bridges manufactured and erected for the Boston & Albany Railroad by a regionally-significant bridge company, the R.F. Hawkins Iron Works. Hawkins was the preferred supplier of bridges to the railroad, and benefitted greatly from the railroad's decision to eliminate grade crossings on its main line in the late-nineteenth century. The Weston Road Bridge has remained relatively unaltered, and features unusual crossed sway braces. The bridge is an early example of all-riveted bridge construction, and is of engineering interest for the manner in which the panel geometry was modified to accommodate a pronounced skew.

Survey number: HAER MA-118

Building/structure dates: 1888 Initial Construction

vehicular bridges wellesley mass boston albany railroad albany railroad weston bridge weston road bridge weston road wellesley norfolk norfolk county massachusetts road bridge boston albany railroad john healey historic american engineering record massachusetts department of public works massachusetts historical commission rf hawkins iron works martin stupich photo ultra high resolution high resolution new england science geometry manufacturing plants library of congress

1969 - 1980

Library of Congress

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