Canton Viaduct

Canton Viaduct
Canton Viaduct with Paul Revere's Copper Mill in the background
Coordinates	42°09′32″N 71°09′14″W
Carries	High-Speed Passenger trains (Acela Express) and Freight trains
Crosses	Canton River, a division of the Neponset River
Locale	Canton, Massachusetts
Official name	Canton Viaduct
Maintained by	AMTRAK
Characteristics
Design	Parallel Blind Arcade
Total length	615 feet
Width	22 feet
Height	50 feet (above Canton River)
History
Opened	July 28th, 1835
Location

Canton Viaduct is a stone viaduct built in 1835 by Boston and Providence Railroad Corporation, designed by Captain William Gibbs McNeill and Major George Washington Whistler (the father of the well-known painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler) and constructed by Dodd & Baldwin. The location of the railroad line from Boston to Providence was influenced by Joseph Warren Revere owner of the Revere Copper Mill (established by his father Paul Revere in 1801) which was located a few hundred yards from the Canton Viaduct with a spur running from Revere Copper Mill to Canton Junction - Joseph Warren Revere was also a Director of the Boston and Providence Railroad Corporation at the time.

The bridge resembles a giant, rusticated stone wall supporting a train deck about 50 feet above the Canton River, a tributary of the Neponset River which passes through six small arches in the bridge; a large waterfall is located about 50 feet downstream. The coping is supported by 42 segmental arches (21 on each side) that join the tops of the buttresses. The structure is hollow composed of two parallel walls, each five feet thick, with a gap of five feet between the walls. A second track was added in 1860 and in 1910, the roadbed was widened by adding cantilevering off of the main structure, and an opening was cut for a street in 1952. More recently, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rehabilitated the bridge for Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express train service.

File:Canton Viaduct Plaque.jpg

The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers, see the entire list of historic civil engineering landmarks.

The Canton River cuts through downtown Canton, Massachusetts tracing down Washington and Neponset Streets, and continues down Walpole Street, and is a division of the Neponset River, with a few tributaries on the side.

References

• Canton Viaduct website
• Revere Rolling Mill
• Paul Revere
• Blind Arcade
• Rustication (architecture)
• "Canton Viaduct". Historic American Engineering Record. National Park Service. Retrieved 2006-07-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |accessyear= (help)
• Plowden, David (2002). Bridges: The Spans of North America. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company.
• "Canton Viaduct". ASCE History and Heritage of Civil Engineering. Retrieved 2006-07-03.