The Joseph A. Russo Memorial Bridge - 1990 - Cumberland/Lincoln, Rhode Island USA - Bridge Date Stones and Plaques on Waymarking.com

Carrying State Route 116/George Washington Highway and connecting Cumberland and Lincoln, Rhode Island, the Joseph A. Russo Memorial Bridge is a five span, concrete, open spandrel arch bridge crossing the Blackstone River, the Blackstone Canal, the Blackstone River Bikeway, and the Providence & Worcester Railroad.

The structure's parallel pairs of arch rings and eight trestle spans rise about 70 feet over the valley. Its overall width is 56 feet with a roadway 44 feet wide between the curbs and two four-foot bracketed sidewalks.

Also known as The Ashton Viaduct and State Bridge No. 275, its building dates were:

• September 26, 1934 - July 16, 1935 for the initial construction
• March 30, 1942 - July 11, 1945 for subsequent work and completion
• A $14 million reconstruction project completed in 2000
• The structure was dedicated to Mr. Russo in 1990.

With an overall length of 926 feet, the Ashton Viaduct is the second longest multiple-arch, concrete structure in Rhode Island. Conceived as a vital link in a new automobile "beltway" route around the Providence metropolitan area, this structure was built at great expense during the early years of the Depression, suspended for a period of seven years due to lack of funding, and completed during wartime conditions of scarce labor and materials. The Ashton Viaduct stands as a monument to the State's bridge engineers and the two construction companies [ed. Frederick Snare Corporation (New York, New York), 1934; Frank T. Westcott (Attleboro, Massachusetts), 1941] who realized this beautiful and durable structure under extraordinary circumstances.
...

In 1989 the Ashton Viaduct was renamed the Joseph A. Russo Memorial Bridge. Russo (1899 - ), originally hired by Clarence Hussey in the early 1920's, worked for the SBPR [ed. State Board of Public Roads] and its two successor agencies. He was field inspector during the superstructure phase of the project. Russo, now in his 90s, was interviewed on videotape at the time of the rededication. Among his general observations on the subjects of the SBPR Bridge Department, concrete work, and the wartime building of the viaduct was a salute to Dave Johnson, Superintendent of Construction for Frank Westcott, the contractor for the superstructure phase of the project. Jonson's integrity and spirit has remained in Russo's memory these fifty years.

SOURCE: HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD - ASHTON VIADUCT; HAER No. RI-43, by Edward Connors and Associates, Barrington, Rhode Island for the National Park Service, c. 1995

There are two identical bronze plaques affixed to the bridge, one each at the northeast and southwest ends of the structure. The northeast plaque in Cumberland is shown in the photo gallery of this Waymark. They read:

THE
JOSEPH A. RUSSO
BRIDGE

BRIDGE NO. 275

IN MEMORY OF
JOSEPH A. RUSSO, BRIDGE ENGINEER
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 1925 - 1971

IN RECOGNITION OF HIS
DEDICATED SERVICE IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF STATE BRIDGES

DEDICATED 1990

Safe parking is available at the west end of the bridge on the southbound side of Route 116/George Washington Highway. The lot is clearly marked with a brown and green sign: BLACKSTONE RIVER STATE PARK BIKEWAY. The sidewalk is just a few yards southwest from the parking lot.

SOURCES:
Library of Congress web site for more information plus historic photographs by Aaron Usher
Aetna Bridge Company Reconstruction of the Joseph A. Russo Memorial Bridge No. 275
Joseph A. Russo obituary 28 December 1899 - 1 June 1997