Longfellow Bridge

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Longfellow Bridge

Carries Route 3, MBTA Red Line
Crosses Charles River
Locale Boston, Massachusetts to Cambridge, Massachusetts
Maintained by Department of Conservation and Recreation with help from MassHighway
Design steel rib Arch bridge
Total length 1,768 feet (539 m)
Opening date August 3, 1906
Coordinates 42°21′42″N 71°04′31″W / 42.361635°N 71.07541°W / 42.361635; -71.07541Coordinates: 42°21′42″N 71°04′31″W / 42.361635°N 71.07541°W / 42.361635; -71.07541
Longfellow Bridge is located in Massachusetts
Longfellow Bridge

The Longfellow Bridge, also known to locals as the "Salt-and-Pepper Bridge" or the "Salt- and-Pepper-Shaker Bridge" due to the shape of its central towers, carries Route 3 and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Red Line across the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. A portion of the elevated Charles/Massachusetts General Hospital train station also lies at the eastern end of the bridge. The bridge falls under the jurisdiction and oversight of the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and MassHighway.[1] For unknown reasons, the upstream sidewalks are narrower than the downstream ones. The bridge carries approximately 49,500 cars and 87,000 mass-transit passengers every weekday.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

The first river crossing at this site was a ferry, first run in the 1630s.[2]

The new Cambridge Bridge. Note the lack of MIT in the distance.

The West Boston Bridge (a toll bridge) was constructed in 1793 by a group of private investors with a charter from the Commonwealth. At the time, there were only a handful of buildings in East Cambridge. The opening of the bridge caused a building boom along Main Street, which connected the bridge to Old Cambridge. New streets were laid out, and land reclaimed from the swamps along the Charles River.[3] The Cambridge and Concord Turnpike (now Broadway) was connected to the bridge's western approach around 1812. The bridge became toll-free on January 30, 1858.[4]

The current bridge was built on the same site as the West Boston Bridge. It was originally known as the Cambridge Bridge, but it was renamed for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote about the West Boston Bridge in the poem "The Bridge", in 1845. Willam Jackson served as chief engineer and Edmund M. Wheelwright as architect. Wheelwright was inspired by the 1893 Columbian Exposition and was attempting to emulate the great bridges of Europe. The bridge opened on August 3, 1906, and consists of eleven steel arch spans on masonry piers. The bridge has a total length of 1,768 feet (539 m) and supports road, subway, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic.

Until 1952, the centermost traffic lanes of the bridge also contained tracks which connected what is now known as the Blue Line, running from crossovers at the Cambridge end to the subway tracks, across the bridge and into Boston to the North Russell Street Incline of the Blue Line subway. Before the Orient Heights Blue Line yards were built, major repairs to that line's trains were performed at the Eliot Square carbarns in Cambridge.[5]

On May 1, 2007, a fire broke out under the bridge. Ignited by a cigarette left by vagrants who sometimes stay in the covered crawlspace under the bridge deck, the fire caused the bridge to be shut down to vehicle and train traffic.[6] This fire also severed Internet2 connectivity to Boston, causing problems with the Chicago-New York OC-192 route, according to the Internet2 blog.

[edit] Past neglect and future rehabilitation

The Longfellow Bridge, like many bridges in the Commonwealth,[7] is in a state of disrepair. "Since 1907, the only major maintenance conducted on the bridge has been a small 1959 rehabilitiation project and some lesser repairs done in 2002."[8]

In the summer of 2008, the western sidewalk and inner traffic lane were closed, the Red Line was limited to 10 mph, and Fourth-of-July fireworks-watchers were banned from the bridge, all because of concerns that the bridge might collapse under the weight and vibration.[2] The speed restriction was lifted in August 2008, but the lane and sidewalk closures remain.

Engineers estimate rehabilitation could cost more than $200 million; the project is slated to begin in 2010.[9] Final costs will not be known until workers evaluate its submerged pilings. If maintenance had been performed regularly, the total historical cost is estimated to have been about $81 million.

On August 4, 2008 Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a $3 billion Massachusetts bridge repair funding package he had sponsored. Part of the bond proceeds are scheduled to be used to pay for rehabilitation of the bridge.[10]

In the summer of 2008, two state employees allegedly stole 2,347 feet (715 m) (linear) of decorative iron trim that had been removed from the bridge for refurbishment and sold it for scrap. The men, one a Department of Conservation and Recreation district manager, were charged with receiving $12,147 for the historic original parapet coping. The estimated cost to remake the pieces, scheduled for replication by 2012, was over $500,000. [11]

[edit] Gallery

The MBTA's Red Line trains cross the Longfellow Bridge.

View of Beacon Hill from Longfellow Bridge, featuring one of the central towers that gives rise to the "Salt and Pepper Shaker" name

The main piers have sculptures that represent Viking ships.

The Longfellow Bridge from the Boston shoreline

Close-up view of the Red Line crossing the bridge

As seen from the Prudential Tower observatory

Red Line train going over the Longfellow Bridge

View of the Bridge from East Cambridge

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bridge Rehabilitation, Cambridge Street over the Charles River
  2. ^ a b c With bridges shaky, what if Boston lost its link to Cambridge? Boston Globe, 3 Aug 2008.
  3. ^ History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877 by Lucius Robinson Paige. p. 176 and thereafter
  4. ^ History of Cambridge, p. 201-202
  5. ^ Clarke, Bradley H. (1981). The Boston Rapid Transit Album. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 14. 
  6. ^ Firehouse.com
  7. ^ Associated Press (2007-07-31). "Report: Mass. Road And Bridge Repair Is Poor". wbztv.com. http://wbztv.com/local/road.repairs.Pioneer.2.588807.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-02. 
  8. ^ Westerling, David & Steve Poftak, A Legacy of Neglect, Boston Globe Op Ed., A11 (Jul 31, 2007).
  9. ^ Ross, Casey, Longfellow's long list of woes, Boston Herald Special Report, (Jan 11, 2008).
  10. ^ Viser, Matt (2008-08-05). "Patrick signs $3b bill to fix bridges". boston.com. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/08/05/patrick_signs_3b_bill_to_fix_bridges/. Retrieved on 2008-09-11. 
  11. ^ Ebbert, Stephanie (2008-09-12). "Case of the purloined ironwork". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/12/case_of_the_purloined_ironwork/. Retrieved on 2008-09-12. 

[edit] Further reading

  • Freeman, Dale H. (2000). A changing bridge for changing times : the history of the West Boston Bridge, 1793-1907 ; a thesis. University of Massachusetts Boston. ISBN B0006RH37A. 

[edit] External links

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