Bennett's Meadow Bridge

The Route 10 bridge, also known as Bennett's Meadow Bridge is a 215.5-metre (707 ft) steel stringer bridge crossing the Connecticut River in the town of Northfield, Massachusetts. The bridge carries state highway Route 10 and was built in 1969.

Route 10 Bridge
Coordinates	42°41′00″N 72°28′18″W
Carries	Route 10
Crosses	Connecticut River
Locale	Northfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts
Maintained by	MassHighway
ID number	N2200412EMHDNBI
Characteristics
Design	Steel stringer/multi-beam or girder
Material	Steel (and concrete)
Total length	215.5 metres (707.0 ft)
Width	13.4 metres (44.0 ft)
No. of spans	3
Load limit	57.5 Metric Tons
History
Opened	1969
Statistics
Daily traffic	4,267 (2002)
Route 10 Bridge Location in Massachusetts

History

The town of Northfield first authorized a bridge at or near the site of the current bridge in 1810. The bridge was built by a private corporation with the town holding stock. The new bridge was destroyed in a flood after only a few years. A horse boat ferry, known as Bennett's Meadow Ferry, replaced the river crossing.[1] In 1897, the state legislature authorized Franklin County to construct a second bridge at or near the site of the ferry at a cost not to exceed $35,000. The new bridge was designed by Edward Shaw of Boston and was opened to traffic in 1899.[2] The bridge was one of the first bridges erected by a then novel method without the use of false works that has since become standard procedure.[3] The 1899 bridge was later demolished and a third bridge (the current bridge) was constructed just south of the former bridge, resulting also in the slight realignment of the highway.

See also

• List of crossings of the Connecticut River

References

• Bridge Inventory Record on NationalBridges.com.
• Massachusetts Historical Commission, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth (1982). MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report, Northfield (PDF). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

External links

• HAER report on Schell Bridge, August 1990, which also talks quite a bit about this bridge

Footnotes

1. J.H. Temple,G. Sheldon, and M.T. Stratton, A History of the Town of Northfield, (J. Munsell, 1875)
2. Massachusetts General Court, Acts of 1897, Chapter 497
3. "A Novel Method of Bridge Erection; Connecticut River Bridge, Northfield, Mass.", Engineering News, Sept. 7, 1899.