While preparing a report on the Weston Aqueduct, which I hope to complete this winter, I had a chance to study the pipe arch spanning the Sudbury River above Saxonville. Curious, as I am always, as to how the builders managed to handle the heavy pipe sections, I put this story together from clues found in just three original photographs of the construction taken on June 2, 1903.

Thanks,

Paul

A few facts:

This self-sustaining riveted steel arch built over the Sudbury River springs from substantial granite-faced concrete masonry abutments. Its 7 ½-foot diameter pipe was designed to carry 300 million gallons of water per day.

The span between the masonry abutments is 80 feet in the clear and the rise 5 1/2 feet. The plates of the pipes in the arch are thicker than in the rest of the pipe, otherwise the arch is not stiffened or braced in any way.

From the fabrication shop in Cambridge, six pipe sections were hauled on wagons to the railroad and shipped to Saxonville, where they were again loaded on a special wagon hauled by six horses and delivered on the work. The weight of a 30-foot section is about 8 tons. The pipes were delivered at points where they were conveniently rolled onto a small steel framed truck, running on a track, and were then hauled into place by a hoisting engine and wire cable.