Quabbin Construction Historical Photographs

The following photographs of the Quabbin construction were taken from the Massachusetts Archives and were enhanced to improve the image quality.

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Land Clearing To build the Quabbin required that every structure be removed. They were either bulldozed, and the remains burned, or some were relocated by the owners to new towns. Bridges, railroad tracks, telephone poles – everything was removed. Trees, brush and ground cover was removed as well in order to eliminate as much organic material as possible that could impact water quality.

Diversion Tunnel Two structures were built to contain the water – The Winsor Dam and the Goodnough Dike. The Swift River had to be diverted at the Winsor Dam, so a large diversion tunnel was built to reroute the water during construction of the dam. This was only a temporary structure and when it was time to start filling the reservoir, the intake side was blocked up. As large as it may appear to be, during a hurricane it was filled to within feet of the top with flood water, validating the need for such a large structure.

Aqueduct An aqueduct (essentially a tunnel) from the Quabbin to the Wachusett Reservoir was dug. A series of vertical shafts were put into place along the route to allow for access, to enable removal of materials and ventilation.

People A project of this scale required a large workforce. Construction occurred during the Depression, providing much-needed work. Engineering graduates from Worcester Polytechnic, Northeastern University and MIT were hired to provide the engineering expertise needed. A small cadre of people were assigned to photograph the project and document all of the buildings that were removed.

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