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French King Bridge

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Coordinates:42°35′52″N72°29′48″W / 42.59778°N 72.49667°W /42.59778; -72.49667

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bridge in and Erving, Massachusetts

French King Bridge aka: FKB

Coordinates	42°35′52″N72°29′48″W / 42.59778°N 72.49667°W /42.59778; -72.49667
Carries	Route 2 pedestrian and vehicular traffic
Crosses	Connecticut River
Locale	Gill, Massachusetts, andErving, Massachusetts
Maintained by	[1]
ID number	E-10-014 or G-04-009
Characteristics
Design	Spandrel-braced steel deckarch bridge
Total length	782 feet (238 m)
Width	47.8 feet (14.6 m)
Height	140 feet (43 m)^[1]
Longest span	460 feet (140 m)
History
Construction start	September 1931
Construction end	1932
Opened	September 10, 1932; 92 years ago (1932-09-10)
Location

TheFrench King Bridge is the three-span "cantilever arch" bridge^[2] that crosses theConnecticut River on the border between the towns ofErving andGill, Massachusetts, United States. The bridge, part ofMassachusetts Route 2, carries automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic and is owned and managed by theMassachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).

History

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The French King Bridge (FKB) was opened to traffic on September 10, 1932. It was named the "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" of 1932 by theAmerican Institute of Steel Construction. The bridge was rebuilt in 1992, and refurbished in 2008–2010.^[3]^[4]

Suicides

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In 2009, police said that between 26 and 31 people were known to have jumped off the bridge since its construction in 1932, with only 2 survivors.^[5]

In 2023 nine-foot steel barrier was erected on both side of the bridge by MassDOT. The barriers have all but stopped the need for emergency responders to be called to the bridge for rescue of people in crisis, or recovery of people who have jumped.^[6]^[7]

Name

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The name comes from a nearby geographic feature named French King Rock, visible in the middle of the river.^[8]

Image gallery

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A view north from the top of the bridge during summer (August 2007)
A view from the bridge to Connecticut River at Autumn
A view of the road surface and guard rails
The southwest lamp post
The honorary plaque on the North West side of the bridge

References

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^Federal Writers' Project (1937).Massachusetts: A Guide to Its Places and People. American Guide Series.Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 453.ISBN 9781603540209.
^Massachusetts Highway Department."French King Bridge".Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. Archived fromthe original on 2006-05-09. Retrieved2009-09-02.It is of engineering interest as an unusual development of the uncommon three-span, "cantilever arch" bridge type, in that definite reactions were jacked into its steel work at the conclusion of construction, resulting in a bridge which is structurally continuous across four supports.
^"Project 603723R contract granted". Archived fromthe original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved2008-04-08.
^"Project status page". Archived fromthe original on 2009-04-20. Retrieved2008-04-08.
^Curtis, Chris (December 11, 2012)."Man jumps to his death".The Recorder. Greenfield, Massachusetts. Archived fromthe original on 2012-12-14.
^Enerson, Linda (May 13, 2023)."Barriers going up on bridge to prevent suicide jumps".CommonWealth Beacon.
^Hoffman, Erin-Leigh (September 2, 2024)."French King Bridge barriers 'working' after 2023 installation".Daily Hampshire Gazette.
^The WPA Guide to Massachusetts: The Bay State. Trinity University Press. 2013 [1938]. p. 412.ISBN 978-1595342195.

External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toFrench King Bridge.

Massachusetts Highway Department: French King Bridge Archived from theoriginal on 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
French King Bridge atStructurae
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MA-100, "French King Bridge, Spanning Connecticut River on State Highway 2, Erving, Franklin County, MA", 12 photos, 37 data pages, 1 photo caption page

Connecticut River watershed

Tributaries

Connecticut	Blackledge River Coginchaug River Connecticut River Duck River Eightmile River Falls River Farmington River Hockanum River Hubbard River Jeremy River Lieutenant River Mattabesset River Nepaug River Pameacha Creek Park River Pequabuck River Salmon River Scantic River
Massachusetts	Burnshirt River Chapel Brook Chicopee River Connecticut River Cranberry River Deerfield River East Brookfield River Farmington River Fall River Five Mile River Green River Hubbard River Manhan River Mill River (Northampton) Mill River (Springfield) Millers River Mirey Brook North Branch Millers River North Branch Westfield River North River Otter River Quaboag River Scantic River Seven Mile River Tarbell Brook Ware River Westfield River
New Hampshire	Ammonoosuc River Ashuelot River Blow-me-down Brook The Branch Cold River Connecticut River East Branch Mohawk River Gale River Great Brook Halls Stream Ham Branch Indian River Indian Stream Israel River Johns River Knox River Little River Little Sugar River Mascoma River Millers River Mink Brook Mirey Brook Mohawk River Nash Stream North Branch Gale River North Branch Millers River North Branch Sugar River North Branch Upper Ammonoosuc River Oliverian Brook Otter Brook Partridge Brook Perry Stream Phillips Brook Simms Stream South Branch Ashuelot River South Branch Gale River South Branch Israel River South Branch Sugar River Stocker Brook Sugar River Tarbell Brook Upper Ammonoosuc River West Branch Mohawk River West Branch Upper Ammonoosuc River Wild Ammonoosuc River Zealand River
Vermont	Black River Connecticut River Deerfield River Fall River Green River Halls Stream Leach Creek Moose River Nulhegan River Ompompanoosuc River Ottauquechee River Passumpsic River Rock River Saxtons River Utley Brook Waits River Wells River West River Whetstone Brook White River Williams River Winhall River

Lakes

Connecticut	Barkhamsted Reservoir Lake Beseck Lake Hayward Lake Pocotopaug
Massachusetts	Brooks Pond Browning Pond Lake Monomonac Quabbin Reservoir Lake Wyola
New Hampshire	Ashuelot Pond Back Lake Canaan Street Lake Cedar Pond Christine Lake Comerford Reservoir Connecticut Lakes Crystal Lake Dublin Pond Eastman Pond Echo Lake Lake Francis (Murphy Dam) Goose Pond Grafton Pond Granite Lake Lakes of the Clouds Little Sunapee Lake Mascoma Lake McIndoes Reservoir Lake Monomonac Moore Reservoir Pearly Lake Silver Lake Spofford Lake Lake Sunapee Surry Mountain Lake Lake Tarleton
Vermont	Ball Mountain Lake Comerford Reservoir Harriman Reservoir Harvey's Lake McIndoes Reservoir Moore Reservoir North Hartland Lake Lake Rescue Townshend Lake

Towns

Connecticut	Chester Cromwell Deep River East Haddam East Hampton East Hartford East Windsor Enfield Essex Glastonbury Haddam Hartford Higganum Lyme Middletown Moodus Old Lyme Old Saybrook Portland Rocky Hill South Windsor Suffield Thompsonville Wethersfield Windsor Windsor Locks
Massachusetts	Agawam Chicopee Deerfield Easthampton Gill Greenfield Hadley Hatfield Holyoke Longmeadow Millers Falls Montague Northampton Northfield South Hadley Springfield Sunderland Turners Falls West Springfield Whately
New Hampshire	Bath Charlestown Chesterfield Claremont Clarksville Colebrook Columbia Cornish Dalton Groveton Hanover Haverhill Hinsdale Lancaster Lebanon Littleton Lyme Monroe Northumberland Orford Piermont Pittsburg Plainfield Stewartstown Stratford Walpole West Lebanon Westmoreland Woodsville
Quebec	East Hereford
Vermont	Ascutney Barnet Beecher Falls Bellows Falls Bloomfield Bradford Brattleboro Brunswick Canaan Concord Dummerston Fairlee Gilman Guildhall Hartford Hartland Lemington Lunenburg Maidstone Newbury Norwich Putney Rockingham Ryegate Springfield Thetford Vernon Waterford Weathersfield Wells River Westminster White River Junction Wilder Windsor