Author: beforetherewasadam_050rbj

Domenic Santangelo

Wachusett Dam & Reservoir beforetherewasadam.com Domenic Santangelo A human interest story and the reason we do this research. In my studies of the labor situation at the Dam I was reading a 1989 article written by historian Jill Lepore titled “Resistance Reform and Repression Italian Immigrant Laborers in Clinton MA 1896-1906”. In Footnote #54 she… Continue reading Domenic Santangelo

Clinton Sewerage Treatment Plant

Wachusett Dam & Reservoir beforetherewasadam.com The Clinton Sewerage Treatment Plant The often overlooked  story of the Wachusett Dam & Reservoir Project is the great benefit the town of Clinton received as a result of the taking of the waters of the Nashua River. Until that time the growing town had no sewerage treatment facility and… Continue reading Clinton Sewerage Treatment Plant

The West Street Bridge

The Wachusett Dam & Resrvoir beforetherewasadam.com The West Street Bridge (B&M Bridge #140) West Street Bridge, Berlin (B&M #140) Photo Courtesy Berlin Historical Commission The Massachusetts Central Railroad (later, the Central Massachusetts Railroad) was built to run from Boston to Oakdale and, ultimately, Northampton, Mass.  Along the route this huge bridge carried passenger and freight… Continue reading The West Street Bridge

The Construction Railway

Wachusett Dam & Reservoir Before There was a Dam The Construction Railway A Mountain of Dirt Not for nothing is it called the world’s largest hand dug reservoir. The Wachusett Reservoir covered about seven square miles of mostly farmland. To preserve the purity of the water to be stored within it, an average of one… Continue reading The Construction Railway

Wachusett Aqueduct

Wachusett Dam & Reservoir Wachusett Dam & Aqueduct The Metropolitan Water Act  of 1895 Aqueduct route – Wachusett Reservoir to Sudbury Reservoir https://vimeo.com/823216232?share=copy Wachusett Aqueduct – Clinton to Southborough Time was of the Essence It is anticipated that the Nashua-Sudbury Aqueduct will be completed and one main pipe line laid to the Mystic system and… Continue reading Wachusett Aqueduct

Wachusett Aqueduct – Masonry Aqueduct

Wachusett Dam & Reservoir The Masonry Aqueduct https://vimeo.com/837240624 Sections 4, 5, 6, 7 to Assabet Bridge https://vimeo.com/837239768 Sections 9 & 10 from Assabet Bridge… to Aqueduct Terminal in Marlborough Aqueduct terminal chamber in Marlborough Arched masonry aqueduct. The second contract of the Wachusett Aqueduct was awarded in six different sections to Silvio Casparis & Co.… Continue reading Wachusett Aqueduct – Masonry Aqueduct

Wachusett Aqueduct – Assabet Bridge

Wachuset Dam & Reservoir The Assabet Bridge Section 8 East bank, looking west Section 8   Assabet Bridge   In the third leg of the journey the water through the Wachusett Aqueduct encountered an obstacle. Its crossing over a millpond on the Assabet River near Allen Street in Northborough necessitated the construction of a high arched… Continue reading Wachusett Aqueduct – Assabet Bridge

Wachusett Aqueduct – Open Channel

Wachusett Dam & Reservoir The Open Channel Section 11 https://vimeo.com/837240002 Completed section of the open channel  Section 11   Open Channel   In the final leg of its journey to the Sudbury Reservoir the Nashua River water, having passed nine miles through a rock tunnel, arched masonry aqueduct and a bridge over a river, entered an… Continue reading Wachusett Aqueduct – Open Channel