A stone bridge built in 1866 without a drop of mortar has been pieced back together near Quabbin Reservoir's Gate 30, and on Thursday afternoon state officials and members of Friends of the Quabbin gathered in New Salem to mark the finish of the job. The Keystone Bridge, which once carried travelers along Orange-Millington Road over the Swift River, had sat closed to the public for years after chunks of its roadway crumbled away.
According to recorder.com, the bridge was constructed by Adolphus Porter in 1866 to carry traffic over the river, using a technique that relies entirely on gravity to hold its stone arch together — no mortar was involved in the original construction. The damage that shut it down was first spotted in the summer of 2021 by two hikers, coincidentally both named Janice and Randy Stone, while they were out searching for ferns along the trail.
Per the same account, the portion of the bridge leading toward the arch had actually collapsed, sending several large boulders tumbling down toward the stream below, prompting officials to close it to the public. State information on watershed access notes that bridges and roads in the area are closed when engineers determine damage has made them unsafe until repairs can be completed, according to Mass.gov.
Weighing Repair Against Demolition
Officials did not rush into a fix. The article notes that an assessment of the bridge's condition presented three options for its future: close it and search for an expert to rebuild it, demolish and remove it entirely, or simply do nothing. Ultimately, officials decided to repair the bridge in order to preserve its history and keep it open for public use.
The repair work stretched over a two-month period and relied on stone and other materials sourced from within the Quabbin watershed itself, the same reporting states. Michael Weitzner of Brattleboro, Vermont, carried out the masonry work in collaboration with Curtis Construction Services of Brookfield, while the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's Division of Water Supply Protection provided engineering assistance and site monitoring by wildlife biologists.
A Cost Figure That Doesn't Quite Match
Friends of the Quabbin raised more than $120,000 to fund the project, but the two public accountings of the bridge's price tag don't line up. The completion report cited by recorder.com puts the total project cost at about $106,000, while an earlier announcement from Friends of the Quabbin said the stabilization phase it funded cost approximately $120,000. That same 2025 announcement cautioned that the stabilization work completed at that point did not restore the bridge to full structural integrity, and said the organization would continue fundraising to replenish resources for further work.
Earlier stabilization efforts had already drawn on substantial community support. In spring 2024, the Friends of Quabbin board approved $60,000 for stabilization work and paid a bridge professional $15,000 to estimate repairs needed for a sagging side of the structure, according to a separate recorder.com report. A professional engineer had estimated restoration costs at around $60,000, as atholdailynews.com reported, and the nonprofit went on to raise $62,000 in donations over three months to get the stabilization underway. That same spring, DCR removed trees believed to be contributing to the bridge's deteriorating condition.
Officials Reflect On A Shared Responsibility
At Thursday's gathering, state Sen. Jo Comerford said the Quabbin and the people who have cared for it across generations share a great history, crediting the bridge project to a partnership between DCR and Friends of the Quabbin. She said preserving the history of the place mattered because of its importance to the commonwealth as a whole.
State Rep. Aaron Saunders called the bridge repair an urgent reminder of the state's enduring responsibility to the Quabbin region and said the agreement connected to disincorporating the four towns that once stood in the Quabbin's footprint guaranteed the region access to the land in perpetuity.
DCR Commissioner Nicole LaChapelle called the organization's work amazing, describing the collaboration between Friends of the Quabbin and the state as a model partnership. She said the volunteers and their vision allowed DCR to step in and remain involved, and added that she expects hikers passing through the area will encounter the special bridge for themselves.
