The Moseley Wrought Iron Arch Bridge, also known as the Upper Pacific Mills Bridge, is a historic, riveted,

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

bowstring arch bridge A tied-arch bridge is an arch bridge in which the outward-directed horizontal forces of the arch(es) are borne as tension by a chord tying the arch ends rather than by the ground or the bridge foundations. This strengthened chord may be the deck ...

now located on the campus of

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It en ...

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonizati ...

. It was added to the

National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United Stat ...

list in 1998 and was originally part of the North Canal Historic District on the National Register of Historic Place. It is the oldest iron bridge in

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 one of the oldest iron bridges in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was the first bridge in the United States to use riveted wrought iron plates for the triangular-shaped top chord. The bridge was completed in 1864 as Moseley Truss Bridge built by the Moseley Iron Building Works of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, to connect the Pacific Mills with Canal Street in

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen, Massachusetts, Methuen ...

, by spanning the North Canal. It partially collapsed in the late 1980s, but in 1989 it was removed to the

campus in North Andover and was rehabilitated under the direction of Francis E. Griggs, Jr., Professor of Civil Engineering. It was placed over a campus pond as a footbridge, and was rededicated in this new location on October 23, 1995.

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* {{coord, 42, 40, 8.6, N, 71, 7, 21.2, W, type:landmark, display=title Wrought iron bridges in the United States Bridges completed in 1864 Former road bridges in the United States Pedestrian bridges in Massachusetts Relocated buildings and structures in Massachusetts Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United States Tied arch bridges in the United States Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Buildings and structures in North Andover, Massachusetts Bridges in Essex County, Massachusetts Road bridges in Massachusetts Merrimack College

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