The Linden Street Bridge is a historic bridge of the abandoned Central Massachusetts Railroad over Linden Street (Massachusetts Route 60) in Waltham, Massachusetts. A restoration of the bridge is in design as a part of the Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside (MCRT—Wayside) project. It is a riveted lattice through truss bridge, built in 1894 by the Pennsylvania Steel Company, and is one of only three such bridges left in the state. The bridge is 98 feet 3 inches (29.95 m) long and 17 feet (5.2 m) wide, with an inside truss height of 21 feet 11.5 inches (6.693 m), and rests on granite abutments. The design of the bridge was based on that of the Northampton crossing of the Connecticut River by the same railroad. This section of the Central Massachusetts Branch, and the bridge, have been out of service since the early 1990s when service to the last customer, a lumber dealer located on Emerson Road, ended.[2] The bridge is owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and leased to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for the rail trail.
Linden Street Bridge | |
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| Location | Boston & Maine Railroad over Linden St., Waltham, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°22′49″N 71°13′13″W / 42.38028°N 71.22028°W |
| Built | 1894 |
| Architect | Pennsylvania Steel Company |
| Restored by | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (Spring 2025) |
| Website | https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mass-central-rail-trail-wayside |
| MPS | Waltham MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 89001515[1] |
| Added to NRHP | September 28, 1989 |
The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[1] In 2022 and 2023, Waltham received two reimbursement based, $500,000 MassTrails grants intended to fund restoration of the bridge for the MCRT—Wayside, matching $9,300,000 spent on a 2.75 mile trail section built in Waltham.[3][4]: 9 [5]: 11 [6] However, Waltham did not proceed with the bridge restoration. In September 2024, DCR announced it would fund restoration of the bridge, starting in Spring 2025.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ Karr, Ronald (2010). Lost Railroads of New England. Branch Line Press. ISBN 9780942147117.
- ^ Lewis, Amanda (2024-01-01). "MassTrails Grants". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
- ^ "2022 MassTrails Awards (81 Projects)". MassTrails. 2022-06-30.
- ^ "2023 MassTrails Grant Awards (68 Projects)". MassTrails. 2023-06-14. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
- ^ Sandoli, Annie (2022-03-03). "Waltham Mayor Requesting $9.3M For Wayside Rail Trail". Waltham, MA Patch. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ^ Autler, Gerald. "Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside". Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
External links
edit- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MA-46, "Central Massachusetts Railroad, Linden Street Bridge, Spanning Linden Street, Waltham, Middlesex County, MA", 2 photos, 2 color transparencies, 2 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
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