From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Echo Bridge
Echo Bridge
Echo Bridge The aqueduct is no longer used for regular water de-
livery, but is maintained as a reserve backup.
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register listing
• Echo Bridge
• (added 1980 – Structure – #80000638)
• Spans Charles River, Newton
• Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering,
Event
• Architect, builder, or engineer: Phelps, George W.
• Architectural Style: No Style Listed
• Area of Significance: Architecture, Conservation,
Engineering, Community Planning And Development
• Period of Significance: 1875–1899
• Owner: State
• Historic Function: Transportation
• Historic Sub-function: Water-Related
• Current Function: Vacant/Not In Use, Historical/
Recreational
Echo Bridge from the north
Location: Spans the Charles River between Needham
and Newton, Massachusetts Description
Coordinates: 42°18′53.42″N 71°13′36.84″W / 42.3148389°N
71.2269°W / 42.3148389;
-71.2269Coordinates: 42°18′53.42″N
71°13′36.84″W / 42.3148389°N 71.2269°W /
42.3148389; -71.2269
Built: 1876
Architect: Phelps,George W.
Architectural style: No Style Listed
Governing body: State
NRHP Reference#: 80000638 [1]
Added to NRHP: April 9, 1980 Echo Bridge, Newton Upper Falls
Echo Bridge was built to carry the Sudbury Aqueduct The bridge crosses over Hemlock Gorge where the
over the Charles River from Newton Upper Falls to Need- Charles River passes over the fall line in Newton Upper
ham, Massachusetts. The aqueduct was constructed to Falls. There are still old mill buildings in view from the
carry water from the Sudbury River to Boston. Construc- bridge, but most of the gorge remains naturally over-
tion of Echo Bridge began in 1875 and was completed in grown with hemlocks. The bridge has two viewing loca-
1877 by Boston Water Works (BWW), predecessor to the tions, the pedestrian walk on top of the bridge and a plat-
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. At the time, form underneath where visitors can hear the eponymous
it was the second longest masonry arch in the country. echoes. Views include white water, a waterfall and the
The bridge was named an American Water Landmark in hemlock-lined gorge. The 23-acre (93,000 m2) Hemlock
1981. On April 9, 1980, it was added to the National Regis- Gorge Reservation including the gorge is maintained by
ter of Historic Places. The bridge is located in the Hem- the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Re-
lock Gorge Reservation. creation.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Echo Bridge
clean water to parts of 38 communities affected by a cat-
astrophic failure elsewhere in the MWRA system.
See also
• List of Registered Historic Places in Newton,
Massachusetts
References
[1] "National Register Information System". National
Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/
Waterfalls abutting Echo Bridge
docs/All_Data.html.
The bridge is located just off Route 9 where it crosses
Route 128. Despite being in the midst of a tangle of high- External links
ways (a major interchange of the Massachusetts Turn- • The Friends of Hemlock Gorge
pike is also nearby), the river itself is tree-lined and nat- • Hemlock Gorge Reservation
ural. • Echo Bridge at Structurae
Echo Bridge underwent extensive renovations in • U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names
2006 and was closed to the public for much of the year; it Information System: Echo Bridge
has been reopened.
The aqueduct was reactivated during a state of emer-
gency declared on May 1, 2010. The line was used to carry
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Echo_Bridge&oldid=455780726"
Categories:
• National Register of Historic Places in Newton, Massachusetts
• Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
• Bridges completed in 1877
• Aqueducts in Massachusetts
• Charles River
• Buildings and structures in Newton, Massachusetts
• Bridges in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
• Bridges in Massachusetts
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