Friday, June 12, 2015

BOSTON WATER WORKS...

My father was a civil engineer.
So was my grandfather and three more up the line – it runs in the blood, it seems.

John Allen Gould III, my great-grandfather, was born in Newton Upper Falls (MA) in 1852. When he was just married, he “took employment” (as they used to say) with the Boston Water District; he became an expert in the engineering of distribution systems – eventually consulted all through the New England states.
One of his first jobs was the Sudbury River Conduit, an aqueduct system that delivered water from the outlying Sudbury River to the water mains of Boston.
It was a big deal, and the Boston Water Works hired a photographer to record the development of the conduit system – a series of one hundred stereopticon cards, numbered and dated; each head engineer received a set of them.

The top photo, workmen are finishing centering the large arch over the Charles River. They built the framework first – all by hand, of course, without power tools or machinery. There are a few men on the top; the design of the support work is beautiful to me, and the wavering reflection of the trusses in the Charles River below is amazing. Photo taken September 13, 1876.




After the wooden structure was complete, the masons moved in, and applied the stonework. Here they’re nearly half-way through their part of the job – they’ve filled in some spaces between arches, and the first layer has been applied over the top. This was taken a month later – November 13, 1876.










In this last shot of the Charles River Bridge, workmen are laying the foundation for the conduit itself – the pipeline that would carry the water into Boston.
          The final part of the job, of course, was to burn out the woodwork from beneath the stonework, leaving clear passage for traffic through the arches. This shot was taken from the Newton side, looking west.

The whole project took a number of years, of course, and John Allen Gould went on to design distribution systems for the Brookline Gas Light Company; he also worked for the Boston Gas Light Company, where he became a director.

          He died in Newton Upper Falls on May 18, 1919.

18 comments:

  1. Amazing to have such fascinating photographs showing the project that your great grandfather worked on.

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    1. I wish I had all 100 of them, but we're down to about twelve! Still, pretty fascinating. I've always wondered if he's actually in any of the photos...

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  2. How interesting, and I agree with you that the first photo is beautiful, with the reflections of the framework.

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    1. The intricacies of the woodworking -- that framing -- just amazes me!

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  3. How wonderful to have such a set of photographs connected with the work and legacy of your great grandfather.

    Family History Fun

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    1. I'm so impressed they did all that without power tools, without machinery! Incredible.

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  4. The second photo reminds me of sliced oranges. I don't guess your father and grandfather would appreciate that comment though, reducing their brain work to a piece of fruit. I'm always amazed at what it takes to create big solutions.

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    1. I had to go back and look, Wendy...but you're right! Sliced oranges! I think all the Gould men would LOVE that comment -- they all had a good sense of humor!

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  5. Terrific photos and story. Well done Deb!

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    1. Thank you, Alex! That whole process just astounds me -- from building that framework to burning it out in the end. I never would have thought to do that...

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  6. Your photos are not only historic, but also beautiful and educational.

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    1. There are postcards of these aquaducts out there -- I don't have any, but I keep looking. I'm not sure that all of them still exist -- but....
      Oh...wait! See my cousin Bob's comments below!

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  7. Deb, I have seen these photos a number of times in years past, and I knew ggfather John A. III worked for the Boston Water Distfrict (and later the Boston and Brookline Gas Companies), but I never knew just exactly what he did. The Sudbury River Conduit ran right behind our home in Newton Highlands when I was a kid (still does) and I walked it to the sight of this bridge many times. We referred to the line simply as "the aquaduct" (even though as a child I didn't know what the term meant), and the bridge was known to all as :Echo Bridge." We would stand underneath the large span, screaming and yelling just to hear the echo. I've heard it said that a duck's "quack" will not echo. So glad these photos have survived. How many people can say they have photos of the work their ggfather did?

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    1. I remember going out your back yard, Bob, and through the gate onto the aquaduct to walk down to the train station...and I remember Dad telling me about yelling under Echo Bridge, though I don't remember doing it myself!

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  8. It's amazing to me that your great-grandfather was able to become so knowledgeable without specific education in his field. That's very impressive, especially in the area of civil engineering.

    I love that first photo. I believe a copy would hang on my wall if I had the connection to it that you do. I also enjoyed reading the process of creating the water system. It was such a big project, especially when one considers that it was all done without the help of power tools. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. As I've said above, I'm just amazed! Those engineers in the 1870s did SO much -- and without so many of our modern machines...can you imagine what they might think of a bulldozer?

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  9. Fantastic photos. The craft of early construction was rarely recorded since a lot of the skills were never written down. Brick and stone masons are still around but not timber framers like that.

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    1. MIke, I think a lot of the techniques are applied to barn framing (at least in the bent system). Some of the support structures in barns resemble that gridwork -- but it's the knowledge of stress and pressure point that just blows me away!

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