Boston Bridge Works

Boston Bridge Works

Industry	Bridge construction
Founded	1876 (1876) in Boston, MA, U.S.
Founder	D.H. Andrews
Fate	Out of business 1938 (1938)
Area served	New England

Boston Bridge Works (also known as Boston Bridge Works, Inc.) was an engineering firm, building bridges throughout New England, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Operating out of Boston, they specialized in the drafting, design and implementation of both road and railway truss bridges,[1] a common bridge style of that period.[2]

History

The establishment of Boston Bridge Works was in the year 1876 by David H. Andrews,[1] building notable bridges, such as the 1892 Harvard Bridge between Cambridge and Boston.[3] The company also constructed bridges for many New England railways such as the Boston and Maine Railroad and Boston and Providence Railroad.[1]

Employees of the company were engineers and contractors for steel bridges, buildings, roofs, and railway turntables. The general offices, for most of their operating years, were at 47 Winter Street, Boston, with a plant in East Cambridge.[4]

In August of 1909 a lawsuit was brought to the Massachusetts Superior Court claiming Boston Bridge Works and the New England Structural Company of wrongdoing in a civil suit. The suit alleged the two companies were in a collusive bidding war. The city of Boston claimed that the two companies had a monopoly in the area. Bids for the Broadway bridge consisted of $112,874 by the New England Structural Company and $113,000 by Boston Bridge Works. The contract was awarded to Boston Bridge Works but due to losing the lawsuit, they had to pay back $5,000 to the city of Boston.[5]

After both a fire at their Cambridge plant,[6] and declining contracts during the Great Depression, Boston Bridge Works went out of business in 1938.[1]

Notable bridges

Notable bridges

Image	Bridge	Year	Type	State	Town	River	Status
	Frank J. Wood Bridge[7]	1932	Through truss	Maine	Brunswick Topsham	Androscoggin River	Open to traffic
	Gould's Mill Bridge[8]	1929	Baltimore truss	Vermont	Springfield	Black River	Open to traffic
	Harvard Bridge[3]	1891	Girder bridge	Massachusetts	Boston Cambridge	Charles River	Open to traffic
	India Point Railroad Bridge[9]	1903	Swing bridge	Rhode Island	Providence E. Providence	Seekonk River	Removed 2001[10]
	Penobscot River Bridge[11]	1902	Truss	Maine	Bangor Brewer	Penobscot River	Replaced 1997[12]
	Piermont Bridge[13]	1928	Through truss	New Hampshire	Piermont	Connecticut River	Open to traffic
	Point Street Bridge[14]	1927	Swing bridge	Rhode Island	Providence	Providence River	Open to traffic
	Tyngsborough Bridge[15]	1930	Pratt-type truss[16]	Massachusetts	Tyngsborough	Merrimack River	Open to traffic

References

1. "Individual Inventory Form" (PDF). nh.gov. New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. April 2013. p. 3. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
2. "History of a Truss Bridge". tn.gov. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
3. Massachusetts Commissioner (1892). Harvard Bridge Boston to Cambridge. Rockwell and Churchill. p. 16 – via New York Public Library.
4. "The Boston Bridge Works Inc". The Cambridge Sentinel. 27 March 1926. Retrieved 14 September 2022 – via Cambridge Public Library.
5. Staff writer (August 12, 1909). "City Wins Steel Suit". Boston Evening Transcript. Boston. Retrieved June 11, 2023 – via Google Books.
6. "Fire Damages Cambridge Paint and Repair Shop". The Boston Globe. 20 July 1936. Retrieved 14 September 2022 – via newspapers.com.
7. Senk, Julie (16 January 2018). "Addendum to Supplemental Supporting Information for a Finding of Effect" (PDF). Maine DOT. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
8. "NRHP Nomination for Gould's Mill Bridge". National Park Service. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
9. Allen, Richard Sanders (January 2004). Covered Bridges of the Northeast. Dover Publications. pp. 93–94. ISBN 9780486436623 – via Google Books.
10. "India Point Railroad Bridge Awaiting Qualified Suitor". Providence Business News. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
11. Carson, Eric W. "Penobscot Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Library of Congress. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
12. New Penobscot Bridge (1997) at Structurae
13. "NRHP Nomination for Piermont Bridge". National Park Service. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
14. "Historic Highway Bridges of Rhode Island" (PDF). Rhode Island Department of Transportation. p. 50. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
15. "Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
16. Collins, John (July 7, 2009). "Tyngsboro Bridge is under repair". The Lowell Sun. Retrieved 30 September 2022.

Further reading