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Harvard Bridge
Image courtesy of Flickr
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Image courtesy of Flickr
The John Harvard Bridge, also known as the Mass Ave Bridge, oldest of the eight Charles River bridges, is notable more for its engineering than its aesthetic appeal. William Jackson was chief engineer on the project, which was completed in 1891. The 2,165 foot long bridge has a basic structure of steel. Its 75 foot alternating cantilevered and suspended sections are supported by granite ashlar piers. Like many of the Charles bridges, the Harvard originally had a turn-table draw at its center. The original cast-iron lamp posts and railing were replaced with steel fixtures during a 1924-1925 reconstruction. Across its length are measurements marked off as 'smoots'. The smoot is a nonstandard unit of length created as part of an MIT fraternity prank. It is named after Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), an MIT fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha, who in October 1958 was used by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge. The 182.2-smoot mark is accompanied by the words "Halfway to Hell" and an arrow pointing towards MIT. Google Calculator also incorporates smoots, which it reckons at exactly 67 inches (1.7018 meters). Each year, the collegiate members of Lambda Chi keep the Boston legend of the Smoots alive by applying a fresh coat of paint on all of the markings along the bridge. In case you were wondering, they did it cold sober, and poor Smoot was carried or dragged most of the way.
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