The Mass Water Resources Authority (MWRA) announced today that they will begin running weekly boat tours inside their aqueducts on Saturdays beginning May 18. This is the latest step in the Inside the MWRA Initiative, an ongoing program to open up the aqueducts for recreational uses wherever possible. Last year, the first phase of the program began when they announced that they would allow the towns to open up walking trails on top of the aqueducts. Said MWRA spokesman Frank Nedley “Bringing people down inside the aqueducts is the next logical step. Our water supply system is largely invisible. This is a way to give the public a view from the inside out”.
Newton will be doubly fortunate since we have both the Cochituate and Sudbury aqueducts running through our city. The Sudbury will open up first on May 18. Riders will climb down a ladder at the hatch on the Needham side of Echo Bridge into a ten person long boat for the ride to Chestnut Hill Reservoir. The entire journey will take just over an hour and a half. The MWRA will begin taking reservations via their web site on Monday April 8 and they will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.
Said Nedley, “We expect this to be an extremely popular initiative. If it as popular with the public as we expect, we hope to move on to Phase III of Inside the MWRA in Sept of 2013. For Phase III we’ll be opening up our sewer pipes for boat tours”.
We expect the tickets for the aqueduct boat rides are going to be extremely hard to come by, particularly because the program was first announced on April 1.
DISCLAIMER – The story above was an April Fools Day prank. My apologies to the good folks at MWRA who had to take a few calls from folks looking for tickets.
What a cool idea! The Cochituate Aquaduct goes through our back yard. Gotta get a ticket for this one!
Oh,I remember reading about boat tours that were given when the aqueduct’s first opened.
I hope I am able to snag a seat.
@Maureen – Here’s the account of that boat ride from Ken Newcomb’s Makers of the Mold.
“We were a party of adventurers, who…were allowed to go down into the main conduit of the Sudbury River water supply, where it crosses the arches of Newton, and float down under the earth till we reached the light of day again at Chestnut Hill. When the opening through which we had descended had been closed, and as we glided down the dark tunnel, with flaring lights and innumerable candles fastened in tin reflectors…the situation was novel enough to suit even a modern spectacular dramatist…(it is) a clean, well-aired, brick arched aqueduct, nine feet in diameter, with a stream of clear, pure water, two feet in depth, flowing with almost imperceptible motion through the dark silence, and losing itself in the shadows.
At every hundred feet a little numbered tablet of white porcelain divided the structure into sections, so that either cleaning or repairs could be carried on systematically and quickly. The gangs of men employed in labor of this kind can be subdivided, so that the work is accomplished in an incredibly short space of time.
Twice a year the entire extent is carefully scraped and washed; and a constant supervision, with telephonic communication along the whole line, and expert examination, prevents the possibility of even slight damage. Through the entire length of 16 miles manholes and ladders give easy access at stated points, and a system of underground maps corresponding to the landmarks above makes it possible to locate any break or injury with great exactness. A complicated system of screens and floodgates at both inlet and outlet filter and control the flow, so that the mighty force is as gentle as a well-bred child, when it might easily be so terrible.
The exquisite compactness and neatness of the enormous structure is a marvel to unused eyes; not a drop of moisture falls from the high, clean roof; both brickwork and cement look pure and fresh as if laid yesterday, and the clear, limpid water is transparent as crystal…”
The tickets will cost a bit more, but I’d recommend the Sudbury tour. The Cochituate has been converted to carry sewage.
@Adam – Yes, the Cochituate is definitely Phase III. We’ll have to wait until September.
Hear they’re talking about a food concession too. Tube steaks would be appropriate.
Oh and Steve, you’re not worried that the crowds will be noisy?
@Greg: ??
@Jerry: great account, thanks for posting.
@Adam: Yuk! Sudbury it is!
This sounds so cool. I can’t wait to take the kids! We live near the acueduct too, so I think the kids would love it.
I should also have mentioned that this program is being co-sponsored by the Mass Dept of Transportation. Mass-DOT has high hopes that this underutilized transportation corridor could eventually alleviate some of the traffic congestion on Route 9.
Brilliant idea, Jerry. All of us on the west side of Newton are looking forward to innovative, multi-modal approaches to addressing the area’s traffic problems. This fits the bill!
Thanks Jerry. Don’t Friends of Hemlock Gorge have first dibs on these tickets? Seems the starting point is technically in the reservation.
@Greg
No Steve doesn’t have any of that NIMBP (Not In My Back Pipe) attitude.
I just heard from the MWRA that elected officials from the area will have first preference on the boats that will be running through June. I assume elected officials includes members of the Area Councils.
@Bob: I’ve long been in favor of politicians going first when it comes to trips down dark, enclosed, sewage pipes.
There will also be a special cruise for senior citizens in June.
@Greg. Depends on which ones.
@Bob: Which pipes or which politicians?
Gail’s right, might not be fair to the pipes. The reverb from all those pols talking could be a structural challenge.
Phase III sure sounds like a trip up a certain creek (with or without a paddle), if you know what I mean.
At the end of this trip, do they snap of photo of you and your companions that one can then purchase? I have a photo of me and my family on another famous water ride and it came out great.
@Gail. Won’t name specific individuals, but there are a lot of them and the list keeps growing every day.
And definitely including all the state legislators and city officials who turned a blind eye to the deplorable working conditions of Boston cab drivers while the big medallion owners were raking in millions. The fact that almost all these officials are Democrats (supposedly the party of the working stiff) only makes it more painful. Hats off to Globe Editor Brian McGrory and the entire Globe Spotlight staff for a great series.
More than a year late, but I couldn’t resist —
Not such a far-fetched idea! As a child I lived in Wellesley in the 1950s and 60s, and in the mid-1960s I and a few friends found a way to get inside the disused Cochituate Aqueduct by crawling through a rusted grating at one of the gate houses. We explored perhaps a mile of the tunnel; fascinating to a 12 or 13-year old kid, and opened my eyes to aspects of Boston’s history that persist to this day.
But probably not a big draw for tourism, even if it wasn’t announced on April Fool’s Day!
@Tad – It doesn’t get better than that for a 12 year old.
You’d be surprised about the boat tour being a draw though. There were a number of people who were very excited about the boat tours until they learned they has been scammed.
I agree that the Cochituate Aqueduct wouldn’t be much of a draw these days …. it’s now a City of Newton sewer pipe 😉
Having spent some time on the canals of France,
Now that I’ve retired and social security won’t cover international travel this alternative to barging in my own home town sounds like a wonderful alternative. The wine and cheese could still be available though. Baguettes might not be the same,.. not to mention the sunshine.
I even did a school report on it – flash photos and the works. (Back in those days I guess we didn’t worry so much about getting nailed for trespassing. Either that or we were too naive to think of it.)
Not much chance of finding those old photos, but if I ever do, I’ll be happy to share them with MWRA’s Frank Nedley for another April Fool’s Day!
Tad