Photo Blog- 2/1/10 The Old Iron Bridge Being Built

[MikeF9]

Monday February 1, 2010

Photo Blog
THE OLD IRON BRIDGE BEING BUILT
















The finished product. The picture is taken from upstream of the bridge with what is now Boutin's on the right behind the trees.

[msm]

The original had a wooden deck --  Wow -- learned something new --

msm

[trussell]

So that bridge only had a lifespan of what- ~50 years or so?  Interesting.  Was that another example of a bridge not having proper maintenance? or did something else happen in the 80's?

[Suzy]

I don't remember what happened in the eighties!  Oh yeah...just kidding!  Maybe it was a danger to some of the people climbing across the top late at night on a dare, a whim, or a drunken tear.  (I saw this with my own eyes a couple times!)

On a more serious note, I would like to know why it was replaced too....

Suzy

[Henry]

I am not sure, but being on Main Highway 104, I don't believe two tractor trailers could have met on the bridge.  I am sure it was normal width, but not as wide as the existing bridge.  Also, there were some height restrictions for a Main Highway.  Just a common sense answer, no real knowledge as to why it was replaced.

[MikeF9]

It was built in 1928 for cars and vehicles of that era. Not sure if height was an issue, but the road width was the problem. Bikes and pedestrian traffic was kind of scary as well. When the new bridge was built, the end away from the village was moved a few feet over to where Swansons is now, to straighten the road out a bit. Used to be when you came off the bridge you would have to take a sharper right than you do now. Trucks coming from Cambridge would cut that "corner" a bit, and I do remember a couple of cars going through the bridge getting parked in the guardrail to avoid a head-on.



I think it was moved over 8-10 feet. That's why we lost the old museum because it was going to be in the way of all the preparations.