Echo Bridge is a historic
masonry bridge spanning the
Charles River
The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...
between
Needham to
Newton Upper Falls,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, and Ellis Street in Newton. The bridge carries the
Sudbury Aqueduct and foot traffic, and is located in the
Hemlock Gorge Reservation. At the time of its construction in 1876–1877, it was the second longest masonry arch in the country.
The bridge was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1980, and was named an
American Water Landmark in 1981.
Description
The bridge crosses over Hemlock Gorge where the Charles River passes over the
fall line
A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...
in Newton Upper Falls. There are still old mill buildings in view from the bridge, but most of the gorge remains naturally overgrown with
hemlocks. The bridge has two viewing locations, the pedestrian walk on top of the bridge and a platform underneath where visitors can hear the
eponym
An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
ous
echoes. Views include
white water, a
waterfall
A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge
of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...
and the hemlock-lined gorge. The
Hemlock Gorge Reservation including the gorge is maintained by the
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The bridge is located just off
Route 9 where it crosses
Route 128. Despite being in the midst of a tangle of highways, the river itself is tree-lined and natural.
The bridge is long, and consists of a series of seven arches. The longest of these, that crosses the Charles, has a span of , and is a segmented arch with a radius of and a crown of . Five of the arches span , while that spanning Ellis Street is . At its crown the bridge is approximately above the river. The bridge's foundations are made of solid granite resting on bedrock.
In 1889, the cover of
Moses King's ''King's Handbook of Newton Massachussetts'' by
Moses Forster Sweetser featured a
wood cut engraving of the bridge on the cover as well as on the inside
title page
The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title (publishing), title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition, often artistically decorated. (A half title, by contrast, displays onl ...
and a page which describes the bridge. It reads:
The next description is of the echo that can be made from the enrailed platform below the bridge.
The bridge was closed to the public for much of 2006 to permit repairs of the railings, which were decaying and which do not meet modern safety codes. Because of the cost of rebuilding the historic railings, chain link fencing was installed on each side, allowing the bridge to be reopened. This fencing was later replaced by a set of modern railings inside the historic railings. Efforts are underway to secure funding to reconstruct the historic railings.
The aqueduct, which has been serving only as an emergency backup for some years, was reactivated during a state of emergency declared on May 1, 2010. The line was used to carry clean water to parts of 38 communities affected by a catastrophic failure elsewhere in the MWRA system.
Photo gallery
File:Echo Bridge Aerial Photo.jpg, Aerial view of the bridge and Hemlock Gorge
Hemlock Gorge Reservation is a state-owned, public recreation area and urban wild comprising on the Charles River in Newton and Needham, Massachusetts. The reservation is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation ...
File:Echo Bridge IMG 6465.jpg, Winter view from upstream
File:Echo Bridge P1040046.jpg, Spring view from downstream
File:Newton upper falls.jpg, The Silk Mill Dam, viewed from Echo Bridge
File:Echo Bridge P1000434.jpg, The bridge from the "echo platform" on the Newton side
See also
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List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts
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References
External links
The Friends of Hemlock GorgeHemlock Gorge Reservation
Newton Conservators
The science behind the arch's echo
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{{Authority control
National Register of Historic Places in Newton, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Cambridge, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places
Water transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places
Bridges completed in 1877
Bridges over the Charles River
Buildings and structures in Newton, Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Needham, Massachusetts
Bridges in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Bridges in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts
Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
Arch bridges in the United States
1877 establishments in Massachusetts