French King Bridge

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French King Bridge

Carries	Rt. 2 pedestrian and vehicular traffic
Crosses	Connecticut River
Locale	Gill, Massachusetts and Erving, Massachusetts
Maintained by	Massachusetts Highway Department
ID number	E-10-014 or G-04-009
Design	Spandrel-braced steel deck arch bridge
Longest span	460 ft (140.2 m)
Total length	782 ft (238.4 m)
Width	47.8 ft (14.57 m)
Beginning date of construction	September 1931
Completion date	1932
Opening date	September 10, 1932
Coordinates	42°35′52″N 72°29′48″W / 42.59778, -72.49667Coordinates: 42°35′52″N 72°29′48″W / 42.59778, -72.49667

The French King Bridge is a steel deck arch bridge crossing the Connecticut River on the border of the towns of Erving and Gill, Massachusetts. The bridge carries automobile traffic and is part of Massachusetts Route 2.

The bridge is owned and managed by the Massachusetts Highway Department.

1 History
2 Name
3 Image Gallery
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] History

The French King Bridge was opened to traffic on September 10, 1932. The bridge was awarded the "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" in 1932 by the American Institute of Steel Construction. It was rebuilt in 1992.

A contract has been awarded for a rehabilitation effort.^[1] "Notice to Proceed" was given as of 2008-03-25,^[2] and construction began as of 2008-05-20.^[2]

[edit] Name

The name comes from a near-by geographic feature named French King Rock.

[edit] Image Gallery

A view north from the top of the bridge	A view north during the legendary New England Fall season	A view of the road surface and guard rails	The southwest lamp post
Guardrails on the north side of the bridge	The honorary plaque on the West side of the bridge