By the 1920's the old timber plank bridge between Dover and Needham on Dover Road/Charles River Street was unsafe and had to be rebuilt. The old wooden structure was replaced with a brand new concrete bridge on pilings.
This photo of the old Bakers Bridge was taken looking toward Dover sometime in the mid 1920's. Wooden railings on iron posts were sagging and one section of railing in the middle of the bridge had fallen off altogether. The sign reads "BRIDGE UNSAFE FOR ANY WEIGHT OVER 6 TONS" but there can be little doubt that horse drawn wagons were still using it.
In this 1927 photo workmen at the Dover side of the river are placing a concrete piling in the riverbed to support the new bridge. A huge block pulley with a hook hanging from a timber tripod gin-derrick is used as a crane to hoist the long piling into position. Power is provided by steam engines. Dark smoke billowing from one of the boiler stacks means they probably were burning coal rather than wood. The white plume from the narrow pipe at the left is steam venting from the engine.
Norfolk County Engineers Office Photos