- City:
- South Deerfield, Sunderland, MA
- Site Type:
- Infrastructure and Utilities, Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Description
The Sunderland Bridge is a 1,177 foot deck truss bridge that carries Massachusetts’
Route 116 across the Connecticut River between the neighboring towns of South Deerfield and Sunderland. This bridge is an integral part of the Franklin County landscape, especially when tied together with its neighboring landmark, Mount Sugarloaf.
The bridge was completed with Works Progress Administration funding to replace a steel girder bridge that was destroyed during a 1936 flood. The governor of Massachusetts at that time, Charles F. Hurley, and the commissioner of the Department of Public Works, William F. Callahan, hired the contracting company C.J. Maney Co. Inc. to begin constructing the new bridge. The Sunderland Bridge was finished by 1938, and a pair of identical dedication plaques were placed on either side of the bridge. The original art deco railings were replaced during 1994 renovations to the bridge.
A plaque on the bridge states:
“Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935
Project Number WPH-R-308-A”
Source notes
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunderland_Bridge_%28Massachusetts%29 2) "Charles F. Hurley." Wikipedia.org. Accessed October 16, 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_F._Hurley. 3) "Connecticut River and Sunderland Bridge from Mt. Sugarloaf." Memorial Hall Digital Collection. Accessed October 16, 2014. https://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=4539. 4) "Sunderland Bridge, Franklin County, Massachusetts." Bridgehunter.com Historic and Notable Bridges of the U.S. Accessed October 16, 2014. https://bridgehunter.com/ma/franklin/D060030VDMHDNBI/. 5) "William F. Callahan." Wikipedia.org. Accessed October 16, 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Callahan.Site originally submitted by Sarah Benson and Evan Kalish on October 12, 2014.
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