Division Street Bridge

The Division Street Bridge is an historic roadway and sidewalk stone arch bridge in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, carrying Division Street over the Seekonk River. The structure was built in 1875-1877 at a cost of USD$95,000. It is a nine-span stone and brick bridge with a total length of about 450ft, making it the "finest and longest" stone-arch bridge in the state. It is said to be a symbolic icon of the unity of the two neighborhoods, which are divided by the river, coming together as the Town of Pawtucket. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Although it may be "functionally obsolete" relative to traffic patterns and in need of repairs, it is considered to be architecturally and historically significant.DesignThe Division Street Bridge is a nine-span stone and brick structure, with a total length of about 450ft. Each of its spans consists of a segmented arch of about 50ft in length. The road bed is 27ft wide, and there are 7ft sidewalks on either side. The mean height of the bridge above the water is 45ft. The piers of the bridge are constructed of coursed granite ashlar and the voussoirs are dressed granite with single keystones. The spandrels, the space between the arches, are filled with mortared granite rubble, and the arch barrels are constructed with an estimated 550,000 bricks. The original roadway was made of granite blocks, the seams of which were filled with tar, but this has been modified with modern asphalt paving and with the piers being modified with the addition of reinforced concrete sheathing for the river piers. The iron walkways, produced by Crowell and Sisson, project over both the sides of the bridge with iron brackets.