New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Fort Point Channel Rolling Lift Bridge, Spanning Fort Point Channel, Boston, Suffolk County, MA

Significance: The construction of South Station in 1896-98, involved the rerouting of several of the old lines from the west and south. The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad constructed a six-track rolling-lift bridge, the first of a new class of bascule lift bridges invented by William Scherzer (1858-93). The bridge was the fourth to be built by the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company, and the first to be constructed outside of Chicago. The six track bridge is made up of three separate through riveted truss spans. Each draw span, weighing approximately 500 tons, could be raised or lowered independently of the other two, requiring usually thirty seconds to either open or close. While the bridge remains in use today by Amtrak and MBTA commuter trains, the operating mechanism has been removed.

Survey number: HAER MA-35

Building/structure dates: 1948 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1898-1900 Initial Construction

vertical lift bridges civil engineering urban growth toll collection commerce real estate development railroad companies engineering patents railroad bridges bascule bridges steel truss bridges boston new york new haven hartford railroad hartford railroad channel fort point channel bridge suffolk suffolk county new york new haven hartford railroad amtrak boston and providence railroad boston terminal company jack e boucher connie brown jane carolan charles p clark dan clement fayette samuel curtis dwight and daly historic american engineering record liz jandoli jet lowe massachusetts bay transportation authority massachusetts highway department massachusetts historical commission william harley moore new york and new england railroad new haven new york old colony railroad pennsylvania steel company scherzer rolling lift bridge company albert h scherzer peter h stott martin stupich photo ultra high resolution high resolution library of congress

1900

Library of Congress

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