Board of Water Supply. Old Croton Aqueduct; High Bridge. View looking southwest. The High Bridge during construction of City Water Tunnel No. 1, before Harlem River Drive and the Major Deegan Expressway were built and the river span was replaced with a steel arch. The bridge first carried clean water to New York City via the Old Croton Aqueduct in 1848. A few hundred feet to the north of the bridge, the waters of the New Croton Aqueduct flow through a tunnel constructed about 300 feet below the surface of the river. The reservoir was put into service in 1870 and the tank in the tower in 1872. May 12, 1916.