Keystone Bridge in Better Days

In the summer of 2021, damage to the Keystone Bridge of New Salem was first noticed by Janice and Randy Stone.  The Department of Conservation (DCR) – Quabbin was notified and soon an assessment was being done for DCR by their contract engineering firm out of Boston.  The assessment gave three alternatives: 1) Do nothing, not recommended out of concern for public safety and damage to river; 2) close and try to find an expert in free stone masonry to rebuild entire bridge but cost expected to be large; and 3) demolish and remove the bridge.

Everything sped up when a visit to the bridge in 2023 by DCR-Quabbin engineers revealed serious deterioration in the east side spandrel in the form of a gaping hole.

In the spring of 2024, DCR removed the trees that were thought to be contributing to the bridge’s deteriorating condition which by now was dire.

On September 11^th, Weitzner, a contractor, Scott Campbell of DCR, two Board members from the Friends, Paul Godfrey and Mark Lindhult, and other DCR engineers  had a virtual meeting to flesh out the details for quickly beginning work.  These included getting necessary permits, determining the safest and most efficient means of work and a starting and ending date.  But behind all the details was an abiding concern that can’t be erased: what if the bridge collapses during the work to save it?  And what if it collapses anyway in the next few years?  All that money will have been wasted.

The first of these concerns was considerably eased during the meeting.  If the Bridge collapsed during stabilization, the excavator’s bill would be adjusted to reflect only the work done.  Even more importantly, Dan Clark, DCR regional Quabbin director, said that cleanup for a collapse would be DCR’s responsibility, as it would have been if no attempt to save the bridge had been made.  The second concern has no easy answer; we simply can’t read the near future of the bridge except to note that the bridge survived the 1938 hurricane and other major storms, possibly because upstream a short distance away  is a large wetland area that serves to reduce the velocity of storm water moving down the Middle Branch of the Swift River,  Michael Weitzner noted that repairs had been made to the spandrel on the opposite side of the bridge and those have held up for the past 80 years.  If we can keep all the forces from above and to the side of the bridge balanced as required for mortarless stone construction and make the necessary repairs the bridge will keep standing.

We asked about how the construction will proceed: will there be large stone removal and then replacement by large machinery that might disrupt that balance of forces even for a short time.  The answer was that the excavator expects to move the stone close to the bridge by machine but do most of the actual placement by hand with careful concern for leaving no large spaces by mixing large rocks and smaller stones and working from inside the cavity outward rather than from the top.

DCR was also quite concerned that the environment in the work area be disrupted as little as possible.  Discussion of sediment barriers, matting and other means to minimize this satisfied DCR.

DCR estimated that it would take as much as 1½ months to obtain necessary permits and that the National Heritage and Endangered Species Program did not allow construction until late October or early November.  This was actually the preferred time for the excavator and that only deep snow would prevent work this winter.  And if that all works, it would mean that work would be completed before the spring rains brought the most danger to the bridge.

On September 12^th, the next day, the Friends of Quabbin had its normal September Board meeting.  Although the Board had approved an expenditure in July’s emergency meeting, there was still a lot of concern about the amount of money committed and the risk of failure.  While everything was being done to allay the risk and FOQ had the money, this was the majority of FOQ’s total assets.  The simple truth is that FOQ needs help in the longer term to cover the cost.  The FOQ commitment should be seen as what’s needed to start the wheels moving but that other resources, i.e. donations, are needed over the next months and years to repay a significant part of our initial outlay.

One thing is clear at this time, the bridge is in a precarious state.  The Friends of Quabbin are committed to preserving the cultural and natural history of the Quabbin and the Keystone Bridge is one piece that is currently under threat.  We hope to save this historic bridge for future generations to appreciate.   Please assist us in this effort.